Israel military operation in Gaza will continue into 2024, report says

01 December 2023, Israel, Beeri: Israeli tanks are seen near the Israel-Gaza border after the end of a seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas militants. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Israel aims to kill the top three leaders of Hamas and will continue the war in Gaza into early 2024 at least to accomplish that goal, according to a report.

While Israel's air and ground offensive has mostly targeted the northern Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 terror attack, the county is preparing for a long campaign to eradicate Hamas that will send Israeli forces into the south Gaza Strip, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The military's goal is to kill Hamas' top three commanders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa — and secure "a decisive" military victory that would eliminate Hamas' 24 battalions, destroy its underground tunnel network and end the terror group's "governing capability in Gaza," the report said.

“This will be a very long war . . . We’re currently not near halfway to achieving our objectives,” a source familiar told the Financial Times.