Following the speech of US President Joe Biden drawing the outline for the release of the hostages in exchange for the end of the war, Defense Minister Gallant visited the Southern Command and announced: “In any process of ending the war, we will not accept the rule of Hamas. We are promoting a governing alternative to Hamas in the framework of which we will isolate areas, take out the Hamas people and we will bring in other forces that will enable a different government.’
Gallant continued: “I have now completed a situation assessment at the Southern Command, the operation in Rafah is progressing above and below ground, the forces are fighting with great determination and destroying the oxygen pipeline that connects the Gaza Strip to Egypt, we are strangling Hamas and not allowing it to continue to exist – it will not have the ability to overcome, strengthen and arm ourselves,” he said.
The Minister of Defense explained: “At the same time as the important military action, the security establishment is preparing the governing alternative to Hamas, when we isolate areas, we will remove the Hamas people from them and introduce other forces into them that will enable another government that threatens Hamas.”
“These two operations – on the one hand a military operation and on the other hand the ability to change the government, will lead to the achievement of two of the goals of this war – the overthrow of Hamas’s rule and military power and the return of the abductees. At any stage, in any process of ending the war, we will not accept the rule of Hamas as the rule in Gaza,” Galant promised.
