Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has suggested that an Israeli tactical victory in the Gaza Strip could turn into a strategic defeat for the Israeli army.
Austin said this during a speech at a forum organised by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
He said the IDF is engaged in street battles with the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. The Pentagon chief explained that in such battles, the centre of gravity is the civilian population.
“And if you drive it into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat,” Interfax quoted him as saying.
Earlier, The Times of Israel wrote that the Israeli army is not going to station troops there after the ground operation in the Gaza Strip is over, but will create a buffer zone near the border.