THE Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip I will continue “throughout” 2024he stated the Israeli army spokesman in the new year message of to the Israeli soldiers.

“The Israeli army must make plans in advance because we will be called for additional duties and battles during this year,” Daniel Hagari said last night.

He added that tens of thousands of Israeli reservists would be needed to continue the fighting, but stressed that some of them would take a break from the war to prepare for “prolonged battles”.

“Some of the reservists will return to their families and jobs as early as this week,” Hagari said, which “will allow them to regain strength for upcoming operations in 2024.”

At the same time, the Israeli army announced today that one in six Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip were either killed by mistake or by friendly fire.

The total amounts to 29 soldiers, of which 18 were killed by friendly fire. Another two were killed by stray fire and another nine by accidents.

According to the Israeli military, a total of 172 soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave began. More than 900 have been injured.