IDF representative to key defense panel: ‘Not certain the conquest of Gaza City will cause Hamas to budge’

An IDF representative told a closed-door session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that it is not certain that the conquest of Gaza City will cause Hamas to budge, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the report, the military representative made the comment in response to a question from Likud MK Amit Halevi.

“Why would the occupation of Gaza City cause Hamas to budge at all?” the military representative was asked, Kan says.

“I did not say it would move Hamas, it is not certain at all. The city has symbolic significance,” the IDF representative told the key defense committee, according to the report.

The panel was also told that according to IDF estimates, some 800,000 people remain in Gaza City as of yesterday.

Israel has declared Gaza City, in the north of the territory, to be a combat zone while the military moves forward with plans to overtake it in a campaign to push Hamas into submission. Parts of the city are already considered “red zones,” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting.

Israeli television reported yesterday that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir is planning to warn the government that there will be no option but to impose military rule over the Gaza Strip if the plans go ahead to conquer Gaza City.

Zamir is opposed to the government’s plan to conquer Gaza City and has urged the government to accept the deal to reach a ceasefire that will see the hostages released.

The TV report said Zamir will carry out the orders to capture Gaza City, but is warning the government to prepare for the military and diplomatic consequences.