Israeli War Cabinet Minister Gadi Eisenkot said on Monday that the Hamas movement is renewing its strength and the war against it will continue for many years, calling for concluding a deal to exchange prisoners and end the fighting in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

Eisenkot's speech came during a closed session with members of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, on Monday, according to the Hebrew Broadcasting Authority (official), without specifying the location of its holding.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza, leaving more than 116,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

The authority quoted Eisenkot as saying: “Hamas is renewing its strength, and the fight against it will continue for many years. It is not correct to talk about releasing the hostages (the Israeli prisoners in Gaza) and ending the war.”

He considered that "the right thing is to reach an end to the fighting in Rafah, and at the same time move forward with the hostage deal under which we will stop fighting (temporarily) as necessary."

Eisenkot made these statements the day after more than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, most of them children and women, in an Israeli bombing that targeted a camp for displaced people in the Tal al-Sultan area, northwest of the city of Rafah.

The bombing targeted an area that Israel previously claimed was “safe” and did not warn its residents or request that it be evacuated of displaced people. It came two days after the International Court of Justice decided to stop the ground attack on Rafah immediately.

This "massacre" sparked sharp regional and international criticism of Israel, with accusations of defying international legitimacy resolutions, and calls to impose sanctions and pressure it to end the "genocide" and stop the attack on Rafah.

Eisenkot went on to say: “Just as we stopped for a truce last time (for a week until the beginning of last December), we can suspend the fighting and return to it if necessary to achieve the goals of the war.”

He pointed out that "there is a consensus in the war government on the necessity of releasing the kidnapped people."

He described the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, as "divided and not serving its purpose."

Hamas is committed to ending the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, the freedom for the displaced to return to their areas, and the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid, as part of any prisoner exchange deal with Israel.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 128 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced that more than 70 of them were killed in random raids launched by Israel, which holds no less than 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons.