Israel is all set to take over Gaza, West Bank area

The war may continue till the Goal is achieved

- BY NANTOO BANERJEE

Gaza’s Hamas militants face an unmit-igated disaster as Israel is all set to take full control over Gaza strip after a gap of almost 20 years.

Simultaneously, Israel seems to be gearing up to annex a substantial portion (Area C) of West Bank ignoring protests from France, the United Kingdom and Sweden and even a section of its own people In Tel Aviv. Last week, Israel said it would establish 22 additional Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Hamas has few genuine support-ers in the Arab world barring Iran and pro-Iran Houthis. Gaza may soon become a part of Israel's extended territory. The present Gaza war follows several unre-solved Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in the past, including those in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021.

Ironically, Israel gave up the control of the Gaza strip, one of the world’s most densely populated settlements, in 2005. It withdrew from the Gaza strip and dis-mantled all its settlements. Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border after the Agreement on Movement and Access, known as the Rafah accord. The Israeli army had invaded and took control of the Gaza strip in 1967 followinga six-day war. It also captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem. At the time of Israel's with-drawal from the 40-kilometer-long Gaza strip, its population was as large as 1.3 million. The birth rate in Gaza is among the highest in the world. However, there was little room fora proper Jewish settle-ment there to govern the place without much tension.