(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has no time limits to achieve the objective of destroying Hamas, according to a top member of the country’s war cabinet.

“There are no limitations,” Benny Gantz, a former general and opposition leader who joined an emergency government in the wake of the deadly assault on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, told reporters Wednesday. “The war here is for our existence and for Zionism, and so I can’t provide an estimate of the length of each stage in the war.”

Israeli troops have entered the heart of Gaza’s main city as they battle to dislodge Hamas, which is holed up in a secret network of tunnels in the Mediterranean enclave. The campaign has come under escalating international criticism due to the extent of civilian fatalities, with more than 10,000 Palestinians killed so far in the Israeli bombardment, according to the Hamas-run health authority. Humanitarian conditions inside Gaza are dire and getting worse.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the US and European Union and gets funding and training from Iran.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he sees his country having security control over Gaza for an indefinite period, suggesting it will maintain that role even after fighting in the besieged territory has ended. Israel has invaded Gaza twice before, in 2008 and 2014, to combat the military threat from Hamas. This time, it’s set the much more ambitious goal of ending the group’s control of Gaza.

“We need to replace the Hamas regime and ensure security superiority for us,” Gantz said.

‘International Force’

The most likely scenario is for an “international force” led by Arab nations to initially run Gaza once fighting ends, according to a former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council, Itamar Yaar. There will then be a “gap period” before they hand over to a Palestinian entity that’s in charge of both the West Bank and Gaza, he said.

The Israeli military has been pounding Gaza from the air since the Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which it killed 1,400 people and abducted more than 200 others. It’s now cut off Gaza City, using tanks and armored vehicles to support infantry troops. It’s focusing the incursion mainly on the north, where Gaza City is located, and has urged Palestinian civilians to evacuate to the south. 

While Israel appears “quite determined,” the conflict is still in its early stages with more than 30 Israeli soldiers killed since ground operations started, according to Sam Cranny-Evans, a military analyst at the London-based Royal Services United Services research group.

When the number of those killed increases “and the length of time goes on — if there is an inability to show definitive results — then all that tends to degrade political will and elevate international pressure,” he said.

Hospital Warning

Israeli troops are getting closer to al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, which is crowded with tens of thousands of patients and refugees. The facility sits above the underground military headquarters of Hamas, according to the Israeli army.

“It will take some time and there will be casualties though we are trying as much as possible to move Gazan people south” to safety, said Gantz. “We will win this war.”

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