NEW DELHI: With reports that fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas is ‘expected to end on thursday’, Ambassador Michael Oren, Former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Ex-Israeli Envoy to the U.S. tells StratNews, “while pressure is mounting on us from the United States and from parts of the international community, Israel is very determined to continue this fight until Hamas is paralyzed and thinks twice for many, many years, before firing rockets at us again.” Speaking on ‘The Gist’, the Former Israeli Parliament-Knesset member adds, “the goal is to create deterrence-to create a situation where Hamas leaders know that they will pay an incredibly steep price for their aggression.” Speaking to StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi, the author of several New York Times bestsellers also discusses the ‘Iron Dome’, proportionality in military action, ‘Hamas using civilians as a human shield’, the political gains for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas in the Palestinian political structure, ‘what Israel needs and what America wants’, China’s de-escalation push at the UN Security Council and Beijing’s involvement in the Arab world, the Abraham Accords, India’s foreign policy and the killing of Soumya Santosh, a care-giver from Kerala.
