Israeli Defense Minister: Israel Not Interested in Conquering Gaza in Future Conflict

Israeli Merkava tanks roll near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip as they retur
THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty

The Times of Israel reports: The Israeli army is not planning to conquer the Gaza Strip if another war were to break out with Hamas, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said this week, in an apparent turnaround from his repeated insistence in previous years that reoccupying the territory was the only way to stop rocket fire.

Speaking to Channel 2 News in an interview broadcast Saturday night, Liberman said he has “absolutely no interest in conquering Gaza,” in the event of a serious flare-up on Israel’s southern border.

At the same time, if Israel is forced into another war with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Strip, it will be Hamas’s last war, Liberman warned. “We go in and destroy all their terror infrastructure,” he said, but added that once the job is complete, “we will come out.”

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