Israeli Defense Minister Vows to Destroy Hamas in Event of New Gaza War

Israeli Defense Minister threatened on Monday to destroy the Hamas movement in case of any possible hostilities sparked by the militants.

GAZA (Sputnik) — Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened on Monday to destroy the Hamas movement "completely" in case of any possible hostilities sparked by the militants.

"If Hamas imposes the next war on Israel, it will be their last… It will be their last confrontation, because we will completely destroy them," the minister said in an interview with the Al-Quds newspaper.

The defense minister added that Israel meanwhile had no intention of starting a new war in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, in Lebanon or Syria.

In the event that Hamas ends its military stance toward Israel, Lieberman promised Gaza, which has been under blockade and economic sanctions for ten years, to invest in their industrial zones, sea and air ports.

Over the past six years Israel has conducted three major operations in Gaza, but has refrained from overthrowing the Islamic regime and reoccupying the Palestinian enclave, which the Israelis left in 2005.

The most recent conflict, in 2014, killed over 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis, according to UN figures.

Relations between Israel and Palestine have been shattered for decades. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.