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3. Gallant: 'Israel Fights Iranian-Led Axis, Not Just Hamas'

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Israel is fighting against the Iranian-led axis, not solely Hamas, as  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in Israel on Monday evening amid increased Israeli attacks, resulting in numerous casualties.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated in an interview published by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday night that Israel is facing an Iranian-led axis, not just Hamas. He warned that the fighting in Gaza "will last for a longer time."

"Iran is building up military power around Israel in order to use it," Gallant said to The Wall Street Journal.

“We are willing to sacrifice. They see what is happening in Gaza. They know we can copy-paste to Beirut.”

Head of US diplomacy Antony Blinken is due in Israel late Monday for difficult talks on the war in Gaza as fears grow that the conflict could engulf the wider region.

 

Israeli bombardment lights the skyline of Khan Yunis, pictured from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip late on January 7. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli army claimed overnight attacks on “30 significant targets” in Khan Younis including underground tunnels and weapons storage facilities, according to Al Jazeera.

Seventy-three Palestinians were killed and 99 wounded in attacks by Israel on Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry says.

At least 22,835 people in Gaza have been killed since October 7 in Israeli attacks, most of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry counts.

At least 85 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by fighting, according to UN figures.

Katrine Dige Houmøller, with AFP