A top Israeli military spokesman said Wednesday that Hamas cannot be defeated as an ideology, and was quick to reassert that the government remains committed to destroying the Palestinian militant group.
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More than eight months of war, which began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has failed to drive Islamist militants from Palestinian territory and has caused widespread destruction.
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“Hamas is an ideology and you can't eliminate ideology,” Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told Israeli broadcaster Channel 13.
“Talking about eliminating Hamas is like throwing sand in people's eyes. If we don't offer an alternative, Hamas will remain in the end.”
His comments were quickly rejected by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose cabinet has said attacks on Gaza will not end until Hamas is defeated.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu's political and security cabinet has set as one of its war objectives the destruction of Hamas' military and government power,” the prime minister's office said in a statement.
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“Of course, the IDF is committed to this.”
The October 7 attack that sparked the war left 1,194 people dead in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, of which 116 remain in Gaza, while the army says 41 have been killed.
According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip's health ministry, Israeli retaliatory attacks aimed at expelling Hamas have killed at least 37,396 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians.
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