Israeli minister: 'The goal is to defeat Hamas, annihilate is military capabilities' | Conflict Zone

Israeli cabinet member Amichai Chikli says Israel has no choice but to continue its military operations as long as Hamas exists as a military organization. The hardline politician dismissed concerns that Hamas was an “idea” that could never be defeated. Chikli told DW’s Tim Sebastian that he didn’t care about “the idea of Hamas” even if it had more supporters as long as it was defeated militarily. The minister also defended the use of bombing despite the high number of civilian casualties, saying that Israel warns civilians to flee. Chikli said that in his view the only conclusion that could be drawn from the October 7 Hamas attack was to never accept full Palestinian statehood.