FLASH
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A senior Israeli official said he expects the war against Hamas to last until the end of the year, despite continued calls for a ceasefire.
"We may need another 7 months of fighting to consolidate our success and achieve what we have described as the destruction of Hamas," National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel Public Radio on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his visit to Moldova, said that Israel needs a post-war plan "as soon as possible" and that the lack of such a project could cause chaos.
"I think this underscores the vital importance of having a plan after the war because without such a plan, there may not be an end to the war," Mr. Blinken told reporters.
"Without such a plan, Hamas will remain in power, which is unacceptable. Otherwise, we will have chaos and lawlessness".
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that three of its soldiers had been killed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where residents reported further Israeli airstrikes and Hamas said it fired rockets at Israeli forces.
The latest attacks come as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has called for a cease-fire in Gaza and for humanitarian groups to be able to help Palestinians in desperate need after almost eight months of war. .
The United States expressed "deep concern" on Tuesday over what appears to have been an Israeli airstrike that killed 45 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp in Rafah and wounded 200 others. The United States said it had called on Israel to conduct a full investigation.
"Those images are sad," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
He said that Israel has the right to fight Hamas, but at the same time it has an obligation to do everything possible to minimize the harm to civilians during its operations. The Israeli military said it is looking into the possibility that weapons hidden in the area hit by the Israeli strike may have sparked a deadly fire at the refugee camp on Sunday.
A military spokesman said Tuesday that the ammunition used by the Israeli army was too small to cause a mass fire./ VOA
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