"Defeating Hamas is a local fight in Gaza, but has an effect all over the Middle East," said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday. "A complete victory in the war will push away future wars for a long time."
Gallant made these statements shortly after completing a situation assessment at the 98th Division headquarters.
"The ground operation brings goals to achieve: one, it destroys Hamas and damages the chain of command, whether it's their commanders, bunkers, tunnels - whatever is necessary.
"The second thing is it gets us closer to bringing the hostages back. Hamas only understands power. The more we hit them, the more likely they will free the hostages."
He continued to say "If for murder, and the killing and kidnapping of 1,500 children, women and civilians, we do not exact a dramatic price - the destruction of Hamas as an organization, everyone else in the vicinity will think to test us. Therefore, the results of the operation should be two things: One, achievement and tactical results in the field. And two, influence and example for anyone who wants to test the State of Israel in the future. A complete victory in this war will prevent future wars for a long time."
