\n<\/p>\n
Israel expects the war in Gaza to continue for \u201cmany more months,\u201d according to the military chief of staff, as Israeli officials signaled that they would press on with their assault despite international calls for a cease-fire.<\/p>\n
The chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on Tuesday that Israeli forces were focusing their efforts in southern Gaza after making progress against Hamas in the north. But he added that while Israel had killed \u201cmany terrorists and Hamas commanders,\u201d destroyed parts of the militant group\u2019s underground infrastructure and captured weapons, it was likely that some Hamas fighters remained in the northern part of the enclave.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no magic solutions or shortcuts in the fundamental dismantling of a terrorist organization,\u201d General Halevi said at a televised news briefing in southern Israel after returning from Gaza.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the military\u2019s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, indicated that Israeli operations in the southern part of Gaza could intensify. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have fled to the south of the territory after the Israeli military in October began demanding evacuations of the north and then launched a ground invasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is considerable work left in southern Gaza,\u201d Admiral Hagari said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The comments were the latest signals from Israel that the war would not end soon<\/a>, even as its strongest ally, the United States, has been pushing for a dialing down of the intensity of the military operations, which have killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, according to health authorities there. The Gazan health ministry\u2019s figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It estimates that women and children make up about 70 percent of the dead.<\/p>\n The Israeli government has said that it is planning for a new phase of the fighting,<\/a> but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top military leaders have vowed in public statements that Israel will not end the war until all of its goals are achieved<\/a>. <\/p>\n While the United States has not called for a cease-fire, differences have emerged between the Biden administration and Israeli officials over plans for the war\u2019s scope, timetable and plans for governing Gaza after fighting ends. This week, Ron Dermer, a top adviser to the Israeli prime minister, is visiting Washington for meetings with American officials that would focus on the next phase of the war and postwar Gaza, an Israeli official said.<\/p>\n In his remarks on Tuesday, General Halevi said that the military was focusing on Khan Younis, the largest city in the southern part of Gaza, and also on the enclave\u2019s central region.<\/p>\n General Halevi emphasized the complexity of close-quarters combat, saying that it would take time for the military to achieve its goals, namely dismantling Hamas and securing the release of hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack, which Israeli officials estimate killed 1,200 people..<\/p>\n He emphasized that the military would continue to target Hamas\u2019s leadership and that there would be no \u201creturn to the pre-Oct. 7 reality,\u201d an apparent reference to Hamas\u2019s rule in Gaza before its military wing invaded southern Israel.<\/p>\n Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.<\/p>\n