“We did whatever was expected from our side. Now it is for the Indian government to decide – if, where, how, how fast,” said Gilon, when asked if India had indicated to Israel it was considering a ban on Hamas.
Gilon was speaking at a media briefing on a day the Arab ambassadors here visited the Palestine embassy in a show of solidarity with the country’s citizens. Recalling PM Narendra Modi’s condemnation of the Hamas terror attacks, Gilon described as remarkable India’s position on the Gaza situation.
Has India stopped supporting the Palestinian cause amid Israel-Hamas war? Former diplomat explains | Exclusive interview
He sad Israel defence forces had completely destroyed Hamas’s infrastructure in northern Gaza except the underground tunnels and the focus at the end of the current pause in fighting would be on cleaning up the southern part of the strip.
After weeks of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed on a four-day pause in fight-ing from Friday last. The ceasefire was extended by another two days. Gilon put the number of Hamas terrorists at around 30,000 and said several thousa-nds of them were killed in the Israeli operations. He also asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu’s government is determined to eliminate Hamas.
Israel officials said they will resume their attacks in Gaza once the truce ends. A senior military official at the embassy said the Israeli defence forces will take all precautions to ensure safety of the civilians while carrying out its operation in South Gaza. Answering a question, Gilon said around 1,500 terrorists were killed by Israeli forces on October 7 following Hamas’s attacks on Israeli cities.
“We are not going to give up on our aim to ensure that Hamas cannot again carry out attacks on Israel,” the ambassador said.
He said the Israeli government had asked its armed forces to eliminate the capabilities of Hamas and ensure release of the hostages and both the objectives are being met.
Follow Israel-Hamas live updates