Israel is on the verge of a decisive victory over Hamas, controlling 75% of the Gaza Strip and preparing to take Gaza City, the terror group’s last major stronghold, retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Avivi, chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, joined “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE” host Carl Higbie, who’s on special assignment in Israel and Gaza.
Avivi said Hamas has been severely diminished but continues to recruit fighters — even 14-year-old children — from what he called a fully radicalized Gazan society.
“We are in a defining moment where we can defeat Hamas forever,” Avivi said. “We have to move forward, go into Gaza City, and destroy this major stronghold of Hamas.”
Avivi warned that allowing Hamas to survive would be catastrophic, giving the terror group time to rebuild from 30,000 to potentially 100,000 fighters.
“Then we’ll go back to the 6th of October. We’ll have to fight this war all over again,” he said.
Looking beyond the battlefield, Avivi said the endgame includes implementing former President Donald Trump’s plan for voluntary relocation of Gazans to other countries — not forced removal. He noted that many Gazans want to leave but are blocked from doing so by Egypt, which is not even allowing civilians to exit the war zone temporarily.
Israel and the U.S., he said, are working to secure agreements with countries willing to receive Gazans. At the same time, Israel plans to empower local clans and leadership committed to deradicalizing the territory.
“If you don’t change the state of mind, they will continue moving toward terrorism,” Avivi said, adding that similar reforms have succeeded in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Avivi stressed that Israel will maintain overriding security control across Gaza, keeping the freedom to strike terror infrastructure while offering residents a chance to rebuild — provided they abandon extremism.
“This is not the distance between the us and Iraq. Gaza is hundreds of meters from our borders,” Avivi said. “This is operating at home. Israel will keep degrading the terror infrastructure, while offering the opportunity to rebuild their lives as long as they deradicalize their education and move towards peace and not towards terror.”
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