“It doesn’t look like there will not be any peace in Gaza any time soon,” Attard said, explaining that Israel has declared a “total war” on Hamas.

“When I say total war, I’m not just referring to Israel trying to destroy Hamas’ military capacity, but also Gaza’s infrastructure, so that they can destroy Hamas’ legitimacy as Gaza’s governors.”

Attard went on to say that in the process of destroying Hamas, Israel’s attacks have brought along a tremendous amount of civilian casualties, with the latest figures revealing that the death toll of Palestinians has surpassed 27,000.

“Now we are in a stage where Israel has already taken control over a large area of Gaza and it looking at the last city to take control over, which is right next to Rafah,” Attard said, explaining how this next stage of attacks is worrisome, especially since Rafah currently houses a “large concentration of internally displaced persons”.

Attard went on to explain that these individuals were instructed by the Israeli Defense Forces to seek refuge in the southern part of Gaza – in Rafah’s camps.

“The problem is this – where are these people going to go when Israel will commence their attacks on areas where Palestinians are currently displaced?”

Attard stated that his fear is that Israel “wants to repaint the geo-political map of the Middle East”.

“In fact”, Attard continued, “Netanyahu’s statements indicate that Israel does not want to reach a peace deal and stop the war,” adding that the Prime Minister has said that it is likely that the war will ensue for “a number of months”.

Noting that not much is being done by Israel to sit down at a table and discuss the meaning of a two-state solution and potentially living in harmony, Attard said that he believes that such a solution “cannot be found using military capacity”.

Speaking at a televised press conference yesterday evening, Netanyahu said that “surrendering to Hamas’s delusional conditions”, which include the call for four-and-a-half-month ceasefire during which hostages would be set free, “would lead to another massacre, and to a great tragedy on Israel that no one would be willing to accept”.

Do you agree with David Attard’s statement?