Israel says war in Gaza could go on for months despite international calls for a ceasefire

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are being squeezed into ever-shrinking humanitarian zones in Gaza as the Iraeli military advances southward

A top Israeli official has warned that the the country’s war on Hamas in Gaza could go on for months despite a rising civilian death toll and increasing international pressure for a ceasefire.

The defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has claimed that Hamas are “still organised militarily” despite weeks of aerial bombardment and ground operations and that it would “take time” to achieve the stated aim of destroying the group.

More than 18,200 Palestinians have been killed in the past two months, according to health ministry officials in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel launched the campaign after Hamas militants stormed across its southern border on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping about 240 others.

While around 100 of the hostages were freed during a week-long truce last month, more than a hundred still remain.

Israeli soldiers work on tanks while gathered on at the border with Gaza (AFP via Getty Images)

After a months-long campaign in northern Gaza, which began at the end of October, Mr Gallant said that the Hamas outfit there was “on the verge of being dismantled”.

He said half of the group’s battalion commanders had been killed and many of its tunnels, command centres and other facilities had been wiped out.

The Israeli military said they had “arrested about 140 Hamas and GOP activists throughout the Gaza Strip” during the previous 24 hours, adding that the total over those detained over the past month exceeded 500.

But the defence minister, one of only three members of Israel’s war cabinet convened after 7 October, suggested the task of destroying the Hamas movement in the south could drag on.

He said the current phase of the conflict, which involves heavy ground fighting backed up by aerial bombardment, could run for weeks while further military activity could continue for months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain security control over Gaza indefinitely.

Aid groups and international think tanks have argued that it will be near impossible to destroy Hamas without “decimating what remains of Gaza.

“Destroying Hamas, even its military capability — Israeli leaders’ chief war aim — will be a tall order without decimating what remains of Gaza,” said the Crisis Group, an international think tank, in a report over the weekend that also called for an immediate cease-fire.

Israeli strikes targeted Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Younis overnight, as well as Rafah by the Egyptian border, into where tens of thousands of Palestinians have evacuated.

smoke billows following Israeli bombardment on a position along the border between the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly two million people have been displaced as a result of the Israeli bombardment and subsequent invasion, according to the United Nations, and all of them have fled southward upon instruction by the Israeli military,

The health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of Gaza, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people in overcrowded shelters and tent camps. A blockade on Gaza imposed at the same time that Israel started its military operation has led to shortages of food, fuel, water and medical supplies.

The UN human rights chief Volker Turk described the situation in Gaza as extremely precarious on Tuesday, saying the enclave found itself on the verge of being "well beyond breakdown."

Residents and aid agencies say that means no place is now safe for residents in the territory

The Gaza health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said Israeli forces had raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday and detained the hospital director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout, along with all medical staff, including female teams.

They were being interrogated within the emergency department, he said. Israel's military had yest to make a comment on the claims by Tuesday afternoon.

World leaders will take part in a non-binding vote on a ceasefire resolution at the 193-member UN General Assembly scheduled for later on Tuesday, it is expected to pass.

The US stopped a ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council last week, using their veto power. Thirteen of the 15 nations on the council backed the resolution, the UK abstained.