With Israel's ground and air assault on Gaza expected to start at any time, the ultimate goal is to destroy Hamas, reach its "unconditional surrender," and decisively end its rule over Gaza, retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi said on Newsmax Saturday.
"They messed with the wrong nation," Avivi told Newsmax's "Saturday Report." "The day after this war, Hamas won't rule Gaza and won't have any capabilities to fight. To manage to reach this goal, we need a massive, massive ground operation. And this is what we are preparing for."
The battle will be complex, Avivi said. He noted that almost a half-million Palestinians have fled northern Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas is trying to prevent Palestinians from being evacuated from the war zone, as Israel has demanded.
"These using them as human shields, which is an unbelievable part of that atrocity," he continued, "their rape and the killing of children and babies and everything they did — they're also disregarding the lives of their own civilians."
Israel will continue to encourage Gaza's population to move south, but Israel will not take risks with its soldiers, said Avivi.
"We're going to go in very aggressive with a lot of air force power and artillery, and everything that's needed to be able to maneuver as safely as possible," Avivi said. "We must reach a point where Hamas not only will be destroyed but will never, ever be able to build again its forces or any other organization for that matter in the Gaza Strip."
It's also important for the United States to remember that the battle is not another local conflict, but instead "a global war between the West, Israel, and the moderate Sunni; war against the aggression of Iran and Russia, backed up by the Chinese economy," he said. "It comes as no surprise that the U.S. is sending warships and understanding that ... part of this. We really thank the USA for all the assistance and the great friendship. Every Israeli appreciates it."
But, he added, "We have to fight and it's not going to end with Hamas. We need to pose a great incredible military strength on Iran, stop their aggression, and also deal with the threats of Hezbollah on our northern border."
He praised the courage of the Israeli military as it pushes to defeat its enemy.
"It's amazing to see how ... strong Israelis are and how strong the Jewish people are," he said. "When we are challenged like that, we will unite and we will fight and we win. This is going to be a decisive win."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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