❗️Netanyahu rival vows to remove Hamas from power within 18 months if elected

Israeli opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot, a leading challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, pledged on Thursday to remove Hamas from power in Gaza if he wins the 27 October vote.

“Today I give a public commitment: from the moment I enter the Prime Minister’s Office, within 18 months Hamas will no longer rule the Gaza Strip,” the head of the center-right Yashar party said during a press conference near Gaza.

Eisenkot said he would pursue this goal either by implementing US President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan, or through “creative operations” by the Israeli army to destroy the Palestinian resistance movement's military wing.

The pledge marks one of Eisenkot's most forceful campaign promises yet. The 66-year-old politician is the former chief of staff of the Israeli military.