JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has attacked around 5,000 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip since Oct 7 and has cancelled a “large number” of other strikes in an effort to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.
Briefing Reuters on condition of anonymity, the official did not elaborate on the number of strikes cancelled during a days-long bombardment of Gaza that has killed around 3,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, saying only that every such operation is “approved at the highest level” of the Israeli military.
In the wake of the devastating Oct 7 incursions by Hamas, Israel was determined to eliminate the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza “even if it takes months or years,” he said.
(Writing by Dan Williams; editing by James Mackenzie)
