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'Another war with Hamas is inevitable'
Just over a year after IDF Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, former OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samia on Sunday predicted that another war with Hamas was practically inevitable and would take place in the near future.
"We are before another round in Gaza," Samia told Army Radio in an interview. "I am very skeptical about the possibility that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its ways without being hit much more seriously than it was during Cast Lead."
Israel must carry out "a more focused strike with long-lasting results" the former commander said, and advised that the in the next war, the army should take control of certain areas in Gaza so that Hamas understands its own actions have lead to this loss.
"We must create a situation in which Hamas runs out of oxygen," Samia told the radio station.
Samia went on to say that Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas the Fatah movement have virtually no supporters in the Gaza Strip. They are "certainly very weak or almost non existent in the Strip. For Abu Mazen (Abbas), the best chance at returning to power is taking a serious, significant and critical step that would drive Hamas out of power," Samia said.