Gallant: Another Two Months Of Fighting Is Expected

Haaretz reporting comments from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking on the four-day pause in fighting expected to begin tomorrow: "This will be a short respite, at the end of which the fighting will continue intensely, and we will create pressure to bring back more hostages. At least another two months of fighting is expected."

• The Times of Israel reports that Gallant told commandos at the Shayetet 13 unit's military base: “There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create the impetus for the next groups of hostages, who will only come back as a result of pressure.”
• The Times states that Gallant said that, even after the period of intense fighting ends, “there will be many operations in which Shayetet 13 will have something to do, until there is no military threat from the Gaza Strip, and we will have freedom of action to do what we want at any given moment.”
• Gallant's comments support an assumption that the temporary pause in hostilities is unlikely to presage a broader ceasefire agreement.