"This operation will continue with the entry of additional forces. Our forces have destroyed several tunnels in the area and more will be destroyed soon," the minister said in statements made on Wednesday (and released today), after visiting the headquarters of the 162nd Division of the Israeli Army that operates on the border of the Gaza Strip, near Rafah.

In the same statements, Gallant assured that thanks to the Israeli offensive, the Palestinian Islamist group, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, is increasingly weakened and with less capacity to regenerate.

"Hamas has no supplies, ammunition, or capacity to manufacture weapons, or to adequately treat wounded terrorists, and that means that we are exhausting them," the Israeli minister assured.

The Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel reported that the Army is waiting for the Government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the expansion of the offensive in Rafah, as it has done so far, in stages.

At least 450,000 inhabitants of Gaza have already fled the border city with Egypt after the arrival of Israeli troops.

Despite international appeals, Israel maintains the military action in Rafah, where it says the last active units of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas are.

Rafah is the main crossing point for humanitarian aid to Gaza and where more than a million displaced Palestinians from other areas of the territory have taken refuge.

Although Yoav Gallant maintains an inflexible position in relation to maintaining this offensive, in these statements made on Wednesday he asked Netanyahu to find a Palestinian alternative to Hamas to govern in the Gaza Strip and that this would not involve the Army or the Israeli authorities.

The minister assured that he has been trying, since October, for the Israeli authorities to address the need to seek an "alternative local and non-hostile Palestinian government" for the enclave, which is facing a serious humanitarian crisis.

Gallant clarified that there will only be "a next day" to Hamas in Gaza with a Palestinian government supported by international actors, warning that if Israel decides to establish a military government in the enclave, it will become "the main military and security effort" of the country in the coming years, which will neglect other fronts.

The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israel has launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has already caused more than 35,000 deaths, according to Hamas.

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