LONDON
\nIsrael\u2019s food minister, Avi Dichter, said that the Israeli military would remain in Gaza for many years to fight against Hamas recruits, the British national daily The Guardian reported on Friday.
\n\u201cI think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that (Israel) will be years in some kind of West Bank situation where you go in and out and maybe you remain along Netzarim (corridor),\u201d Dichter said.
\nIsraeli reservists who recently served in Gaza described to The Guardian the scale of the new military infrastructure built in the territory by Israel. This includes extensive new camps and roads across a swath of northern and central Gaza.
\nA demobilized officer said that he had spent days demolishing houses in Gaza to clear more ground for military bases in Gaza\u2019s Netzarim corridor.
\n\u201cThat was the only mission. There was not a single construction left that was taller than my waist anywhere (in the corridor), except our bases and observation towers,\u201d he said.
\nIsraeli military strikes killed at least 21 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said, as tanks pushed deeper into the north and south of the territory.
\nThe escalation came a day after Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah began a ceasefire in Lebanon, halting more than a year of hostilities and raising hopes among many Palestinians in Gaza for a similar deal with Hamas, which ruled the territory from 2007 until the current conflict.
\nBenjamin Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s prime minister, has repeatedly said that Hamas must be completely destroyed and Israel must retain lasting control over parts of Gaza.
\nIsrael\u2019s campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,200 people and displaced nearly all the territory\u2019s population at least once, Gaza officials say. Most victims are civilians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Israel\u2019s food minister, Avi Dichter, said that the Israeli military would remain in Gaza for many years to fight against Hamas recruits, the British national daily The Guardian reported on Friday. \u201cI think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that (Israel) will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n