War in Gaza will continue ‘throughout’ 2024, Israeli army says

The Israeli army’s forecasts for the coming year are grim. The war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue “through” 2024, an Israeli army spokesman has said.

The Army “has to plan ahead because we’re going to be called upon to do more missions and more combat over the course of this year,” Daniel Hagary told the press Sunday evening. He also insisted that tens of thousands of Israeli reservists would be needed to continue fighting, but some would take a break from the war to prepare for “prolonged combat.”

172 Israeli soldiers killed

“Some reservists will return to their families and jobs this week,” assured Daniel Hagary, which “will allow them to recuperate for the upcoming activities next year” (2024). In addition, he said, the fact that some of the 300,000 reservists will return to work for a certain period of time “will significantly ease the burden on the economy” affected by the war. The army plans to deploy its troops in the coming months, he added.

The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip. Since then, the Israeli army has carried out military operations in the area with the goal of “destroying” Hamas.

Since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27, the army has lost 172 soldiers in Palestinian territory, including as a result of so-called “friendly” fire, that is, from its own armed forces.