US PRESIDENT Joe Biden will allow Israel until the end of the year to wrap up its war on Hamas, official sources in Tel Aviv say.
It comes as Israel ramps up its air and ground offensive in Gaza – which has so far wiped out about half of the terror group’s mid-level commanders – and prepares to flood Hamas’ underground labyrinth.
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Israel is coming under mounting pressure to end the suffering of civilians caught up in military efforts to wipe out Hamas.
Biden’s three-week deadline was revealed by three officials in Tel Aviv who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly gave a terse response to Israeli officials who this week claimed fighting in southern Gaza would last several months.
Blinken told the Israeli officials: “You don’t have that much credit,” Politico reports.
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It comes after US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer said yesterday the Biden administration would not be imposing a hard deadline on Israel to end its military operation in Gaza.
Sources say Israeli leaders are prepared to “incur an overdraft” and finish the job in Gaza after previously going against the wishes of the US and other allies.
A senior Israeli official told the news outlet: “They advised us not to go into Gaza, but we did.
“We went into Gaza because that was the only way we could destroy Hamas and free our hostages.
“They told us, ‘don’t go into the terror tunnels.’ But if we don’t go into the terror tunnels, there’s no way we can destroy Hamas.
“They told us not to go into the hospitals despite them being used by Hamas as command and control centres, but we went into those hospitals, and we did what we needed to do.
“And we’ll do what we need to do to reach decisive victory.”
IDF Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner from the IDF this week told The Sun it is Israel’s mission to make sure Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the 61-year-old “mastermind of the massacre of seventh of October”, does not escape Gaza alive.
Lt Col Lerner said: “[Sinwar] is the person that financed it, organised it, planned it, and gave the green light to go and kill and butcher, massacre, abduct, rape, and behead Israelis.
“He’s at the top of our list. We intend on catching up with him and killing him in action.”
The powerful statement was made just hours after Israeli forces were sent to Sinwar’s home where trusted officials said he could be hiding.
IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi said earlier this week: “We are attacking [Hamas’] centre of gravity.
“We are asked frequently about the destruction in Gaza. Hamas is the address. Sinwar is the address.”
The traditional house where he was believed to be hiding, in northwest Khan Younis, was completely surrounded by the IDF.
Israel’s military chiefs vowed to continue their renewed offensive until “Gaza’s Bin Laden” is dead as details of his twisted psyche were laid bare.
Sinwar spent 22 years in an Israeli prison for terrorist murder and kidnap plots – and a burning hatred for his captors grew all the while.
Meanwhile, new pictures have emerged which appear to show dozens of Israeli troops setting up pumps and pipes close to the sea as they look to flood Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel network.
At least five large pumps have been installed to fill the sprawling maze with seawater and flush out the Hamas terrorists who have been using the tunnels as a hideout since the massacres of October 7.
Another picture which surfaced this week showed a group of Hamas commanders grinning and enjoying one of their last suppers in the tunnel network days before they were taken out by Israel.
The names of the leaders from the Northern Gaza Strip Brigade, the second-largest military faction of Hamas, who have been killed are:
- Ahmed Al-Ghandoor – Northern Brigade Commander
- Wael Rajab – Deputy Northern Brigade Commander
- Ibrahim Al-Biari – Central Jabaliya Battalion Commander
- Rafat Salman – Aid Battalion Commander
- Asam Abu Rakba – Head of Aerial Division
Also this week, Israel killed a Hamas chief who helped orchestrate the brutal October 7 attacks, Wissam Farhat, in an airstrike.
Farhat belonged to the Shuja’iya Brigade of the terrorist group and directed terrorists to kill and kidnap Israeli civilians from the Nahal Oz kibbutz; at least 12 civilians were killed and more than 20 captured.
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