The Israel-Hamas War will last three years, IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) and former government minister Effi Eitam said Monday in an interview with 103FM.
The past 48 hours have been some of the most difficult since the start of the war with Hamas, with 12 IDF soldiers having been killed throughout the Gaza Strip, eight of them in Rafah.
"The IDF has a set goal to crush Hamas," Eitam said. "Everyone who carries a weapon [in Gaza] must die. All weapons must be seized. Nearly the entirety of the Gaza Strip is in our hands, and we can move about it relatively freely."
He continued, "The period of war will last for about three years - one year already behind us, another year for the war in Lebanon, and another year to worry about everything related to Iran."
Removing the Hamas 'forest' in Gaza
"There is no point in worrying about 'the day after' so long as the action is still in its infancy," Eitam said, reaffirming the IDF's goal of toppling Hamas.
"For 20 years we have been complacent. What could have been a simple weed to remove is now an entire forest."
He continued: "Our goals are simple, measurable, and attainable: Everyone holding a weapon, weather an RPG or a Kalashnikov, must die. All weapons must be seized.... this is happening almost every day and it is inevitable."