[IsraelTimes] In new report, defense official says military requires 3-4 weeks to complete operations in southern Hamas stronghold of Khan Younis and further 3-4 weeks of intensive fightingThe Israeli military needs another three to four weeks to complete its current offensive in southern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
’s Khan Younis and a similar amount of time after that to wrap up the first stage of the war against Hamas
...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
, according to a senior Israeli defense official.
The official told Axios in a report on Friday that while the US has not given Israel a deadline on ending its military operations in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 massacres, Washington has expressed that time was running out.
Israel is just over two months into a war with Hamas in Gaza, after the terror group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, when thousands of holy warriors burst through the borders into southern Israeli communities, killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages.
Israel declared war and has vowed to destroy Hamas following the shock terror onslaught, and to exercise caution to protect Gazook civilians who, according to defense officials, are used as human shields by Hamas holy warriors deeply entrenched inside Gaza’s civilian fabric.
The defense official who spoke to Axios said the US and Israel disagreed by about a month on how long the war should continue, without further specifying.
According to the official, the Biden administration would be happy for Israel to finish intensive operations by the end of the month, but Jerusalem believes it needs until at least the end of January.
"The American message is that they would like to see us finish the fighting sooner, with less harm to Paleostinian civilians and more humanitarian assistance for Gaza. We would also like this to happen, but the enemy does not always agree," the official was quoted as saying.
"The Americans understand this and we are working together. We need them and they need us," the official added.
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council told Axios in a statement that this was Israel’s war against Hamas and "the Israelis will decide their course."
"We will continue to support Israel’s efforts to defend itself from Hamas terrorists," the spokesperson said.
According to a separate report Friday, in Politico, which cited three anonymous Israeli officials, Biden administration officials have told Israel it has until the end of 2023 to conclude the war in Gaza against Hamas.
The news outlet noted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...’s reported warning last week that Israel likely has "weeks," not months, to wrap up the fighting.
Responding to the Politico report late Friday, an NSC spokesperson indicated it was inaccurate: "These are Israeli military operations, and the Israelis will decide their course. We will continue to support Israel’s efforts to defend itself from Hamas terrorists," the spokesperson said.
On Thursday, another top US official expressed strong backing for Israel’s objectives in the war to destroy Hamas and said Washington had given no "firm deadline" on ending the war.
US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said during an on-stage interview at the Aspen Security Conference that Israel "has said that Hamas can no longer govern, can no longer be in charge of Gaza. We think that is a very legitimate objective, given what has happened on October 7 and since."
Israel’s second main objective is that Hamas will no longer be allowed to pose the type of threat that it posed to Israel on October 7. "Frankly, if the war were stopped today, it would continue to pose [such a threat], which is why we’re not in place yet of asking Israel to stop or for a ceasefire," Finer said.
The US on Friday vetoed a United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
resolution backed by almost all other Security Council members and many other nations demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Paleostinian civilians are facing what the UN chief calls a "humanitarian nightmare."
Washington has been pressing Israel to increase humanitarian aid
to the Strip and the urgent need for maximum efforts to protect civilian life in Gaza amid a mounting corpse count in the Hamas-ruled territory.Blinken on Thursday issued the strongest warning to date on civilian losses, describing "a gap" between what Israel had pledged to do to protect Paleostinian non-combatants and the results on the ground so far since military operations expanded into the south of the Strip last week.
Blinken said it remains "imperative" that Israel do more to prevent harm to civilians and that he had received assurances on this issue from Israeli officials during his visit last week.
"There does remain a gap between exactly what I said when I was there, between the intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground," he said Thursday at a joint news conference in Washington with visiting British Foreign Secretary David Cameron
...Empty suit Brit pol, former PM, has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel...
The defense official who spoke to Axios said Israeli forces "have made significant progress" in the northern part of the Gaza Strip since late October when Israel launched its ground campaign, but that maneuvering in the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel believes much of the Hamas leadership is located, "has just started."
The IDF has been pushing into Hamas strongholds across Gaza and forces have encircled the Strip’s major urban centers as they seek to destroy Hamas over its unprecedented assault on Israel on October 7.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday that there were signs the terror group’s defenses were cracking.
Related:
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Hamas likely has extra-deep fortified tunnels for key infrastructure, Israeli engineer tells UK paper; IDF drops leaflets warning about floods
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Israel encircles home of Hamas leader as Palestinians are warned to flee
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Israel dismisses US calls to temper its ground invasion as it begins bloody new phase of the war and pushes into Gaza's second-largest city where Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Hamas likely has extra-deep fortified tunnels for key infrastructure, Israeli engineer tells UK paper; IDF drops leaflets warning about floods
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Israel encircles home of Hamas leader as Palestinians are warned to flee
Khan Younis: 2023-12-07 Israel dismisses US calls to temper its ground invasion as it begins bloody new phase of the war and pushes into Gaza's second-largest city where Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding