JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that the section of intense combating towards Hamas within the Gaza Strip was coming to an finish however that the struggle wouldn’t finish till the Islamist group not controls the Palestinian enclave.

As soon as the extraordinary combating is over in Gaza, Netanyahu stated, Israel will be capable of deploy extra forces alongside the northern border with Lebanon, the place combating with Iran-backed Hezbollah has escalated .

“After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our (evacuated) residents home,” Netanyahu stated in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.

“If we can we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring (the residents) home,” he stated.

Many Israeli cities close to the border with Lebanon have been evacuated in the course of the combating.

Requested when the section of intense combating towards Hamas will come to an finish, Netanyahu answered: “Very soon.”

However the army will nonetheless function in Gaza.

“I am not willing to end the war and leave Hamas as it is,” he stated.

Netanyahu additionally reiterated his rejection to the concept that the West Financial institution-based Palestinian Authority run Gaza instead of Hamas.