Israel planning to occupy 75% of Gaza Strip within 2 months

The Israel Defense Forces plan to occupy 75% of the Gaza Strip’s territory within two months with the remaining 25% to be occupied by the civilian population of the area, The Times of Israel writes.

“The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it aims to occupy 75 percent of the Gaza Strip’s territory within two months as part of its new offensive against the Hamas terror group,” reads the statement.

As noted, currently, the Israeli military holds about 40% of the Strip’s territory, and it will take about two months to capture the remaining 35%. The website also notes that after the launch of a large-scale offensive, more than two million civilians in the Gaza Strip will be evacuated to a “safer zone.”

According to military sources cited by the newspaper, the leadership of the Israel Defense Forces has decided to focus its efforts on destroying the radicals’ infrastructure in the area and capturing territory. The terror group constructed in Gaza an estimated 900 kilometers of tunnels, yet so far, only 25% of them have been destroyed, according to the military. As noted, by destroying Hamas’s military wing, its entire infrastructure, and depriving the movement of the ability to control the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, the army will be able to defeat Hamas and free all the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Israel on March 18 resumed its attacks against Hamas with a surprise wave of airstrikes, ending a two-month ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks continued because Hamas refused to accept the U.S. plan to extend the ceasefire and release the hostages.

According to statistics from the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health, more than 3,700 people have been killed and more than 10,700 injured in Gaza since March 18.