Photo: Collected
Hostilities in the Gaza Strip will last at least another seven months, Israeli National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi said on Wednesday (29 May).
"Fighting in the Gaza Strip will continue for at least another seven months," Hanegbi said, as broadcast by Israel's 12 TV channel.
The Israeli army already controls 75% of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, running along the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the official added.
Israel has continued the military operation in Rafah this week, pushing deeper into central and western neighborhoods, despite international criticism over a Sunday airstrike that started a fire at a tent camp, killing at least 45 displaced Gazans. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a tragic mistake.
Around a million Gazans have fled Rafah since the Israeli incursion began on May 6. The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that supply lines to Gaza were effectively severed after the Israeli military took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
WHO has managed to get only three supply trucks in through the Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom border in the past weeks, with 60 others still stranded on the border. Bakeries and water treatment plants have been running on fumes, and the threat of widespread starvation in the enclave is "more acute than ever," the UN said.
Messenger/Mumu
