Israeli defense official says Gaza will be reduced to a ‘city of tents’ while a politician calls for nuclear bombs
An Israeli defense official vowed that Gaza will be wiped out and reduced to a “city of tents” in a punishing “ground maneuver” after the unprecedented attack against the Jewish state — as a politician called for nuclear weapons to be used.
The unnamed defense official told Israel’s Channel 13 that the Palestinian territory, home to more than 2 million residents, would be reduced to rubble.
“Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents. There will be no buildings. The ground maneuver will surprise Hamas,” the official said in a stark warning to the terrorist group behind the weekend assault that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.
Meanwhile, Revital “Tally” Gotliv, a Likud member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, called for the Jewish state to unleash nuclear warfare — even though Israel has never openly admitted to having such weapons.
“Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. Before considering the introduction of forces. Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion. May God protect all our forces,” Gotliv tweeted Monday, according to a translation.
“I urge you to do everything and use doomsday weapons fearlessly against our enemies,” she said in another post, adding that Israel “must use everything in its arsenal.”
“There is no pity! To the ground and crush Gaza. … Do everything before considering bringing troops into Gaza,” she wrote Tuesday.
“We have artillery capabilities. We invested huge budgets in it. Must use everything we have in the arsenal! The lives of our soldiers are more important and precious than any person in Gaza. The gloves will be removed!”
Nikolai Sokov, senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, told Newsweek that “loose talk” about nukes has increased due to the war in Ukraine and now the conflict in Gaza — but noted that the subject is a sensitive one in Israel.
“For Israel, such loose talk is perhaps even more damaging because the country does not even admit it has nuclear weapons, so an indirect confirmation is not good for its image,” Sokov told the outlet.
He added that any potential targets would be too close for Israel to even consider using such weapons without putting its own people at risk.
“There are, effectively, no targets for nuclear weapons in this war/conflict,” he told Newsweek.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke to Israeli troops massed along the Gaza border.
“I have released all the restraints, we have [regained] control of the area, and we are moving to a full offense,” Gallant told the soldiers, the Times of Israel reported.
“You will have the ability to change the reality here. You have seen the prices [being paid], and you will get to see the change. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza. They will regret this moment. Gaza will never go back to what it was,” he continued.
“Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors, we will eliminate him with all our might — and without compromise,” Gallant added.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
An Egyptian official told the outlet on Tuesday that Israel has informed Cairo that it is preparing for a months-long ground campaign in Gaza.
The official added that Israel has so far rejected Egypt’s efforts to mediate a de-escalation in the hostilities, suggesting that it seeks to deal a knockout blow to the terror group before considering a cease-fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told President Biden on Sunday that Israel has no choice but to launch a ground assault.
“We have to go in. We can’t negotiate now. We need to restore deterrence,” Netanyahu told Biden, three Israeli and US sources briefed on the call told Axios.
Biden did not try to change Netanyahu’s mind, the outlet added, citing the sources.
Also Tuesday, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that killing senior Hamas members is a primary goal.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
“We will not stop the effort to eliminate senior Hamas officials, this is a top priority,” Hagari told a reporter after Israeli strikes killed two senior Hamas members Monday night.
The war between the Jewish state and Hamas raged for a fifth day Wednesday, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighborhood after neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety.
The IDF said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have died in Israel since Saturday’s incursion.
In Gaza, 1,055 people have been killed, including 260 children and 230 women, according to authorities there. Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them.
With Post wires
