(Jewish Chronicle-UK) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - After the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, Israel had no choice but to uproot Hamas from Gaza. It has already made considerable progress and has taken over most of Gaza, killing or capturing about 20,000 terror operatives. Israel is now looking at completing the mission of defeating Hamas, denying it the ability to rule Gaza, releasing the hostages and establishing - together with the international community and the moderate Arab world - a new reality that will guarantee Gaza will not be used as a base for launching terror attacks. Achieving these goals depends on Israel taking over Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. Israel needs also to clear the area so that the people of Gaza will be fully convinced that Hamas is not coming back. Taking Rafah is also necessary to improve the living conditions for the Gaza population. Taking Rafah is also necessary for containing Iran and its proxies, stabilizing the Middle East and securing the West. The writer, director of the Project on Regional Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is former head of the IDF Military Intelligence Research Division.
2024-04-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive