Israel’s head of national Security Council has said the country expects “another seven months of fighting” in Gaza to achieve the objective of destroying Hamas.

The war began when Hamas-led militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel on 7 October, involving a barrage of several thousand rockets concurrent to an estimated 3,000 militants breaching the Gaza–Israel barrier and attacking Israeli civilian communities and military bases.

The war has elicited strong reactions worldwide, with more European countries now recognizing the state of Palestine and the International Criminal Court charging Israeli Prime Minister for war crimes .

In a radio interview on the Israeli station Reshet bet on Wednesday, Tzachi Hanegbi said:

“It was honestly stated in the first days of presenting the plans to the cabinet that the war would be long”.

“It is built on a staged basis, with the year 2024 defined as a year of combat. We are now in the fifth month of 2024, which means we expect another seven months of fighting to deepen our achievements and achieve our goal of destroying the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” he added.

“You need to have patience and know how to stand strong. This resilience is what has allowed this nation to survive for 75 years, and even for 3,000 years before that. Just don’t use a stopwatch on ourselves or set ultimatums,” he said.