Israel aims to crush Hamas but vague on Gaza's post-war future
Israel is determined to crush Hamas but has said little about what would replace its rule in Gaza after the war, with observers expecting Washington will play a decisive role.
«One thing is clear: the Gaza Strip will not be ruled by Hamas once this war is over,» Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told AFP as Israel's military steps up strikes in preparation for a widely-expected ground offensive.
In the wake of the October 7 attacks, when militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement began a deadly cross-border assault that has killed 1,400 people, Israel has laid out just one objective: «Destroying Hamas».
Since then, it has embarked on a brutal retaliatory bombing campaign, which Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says has now killed more than 5,000 people.
Despite four previous wars with Gaza's Hamas rulers — in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021 — Israel has never before threatened to completely overthrow the movement which rules this tiny territory of 2.4 million people.
The territory, which has been languishing under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas took control in 2007, has since October 7 suffered a spiralling humanitarian crisis, largely deprived of water, food and other basic supplies and more than a million people displaced.
Although Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, ending an occupation that began in 1967, the international community considers it responsible for the tiny territory's primary needs — energy, food and medicine.
Handing over the keys
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it a «do or die» war. His government is hoping to end all responsibility for Gaza as part of a «new regional reality» it hopes will emerge after the war.
