(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The general responsible for Israel's border with the Gaza Strip says that continued rule by the territory's Islamist militant group Hamas is necessary for its stability, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
"There is no substitute for Hamas as ruler in the strip. The alternative would be the Israeli military and chaos in governance," top-selling Yediot Aharonot quoted Major General Sami Turgeman as telling heads of southern Israel local authorities in the Gaza border area on Monday.
The military spokesman's office told AFP that it had no transcript of Turgeman's remarks and therefore could not verify them.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Hamas, along with the Islamic State jihadist group, as "branches of the same poisonous tree".
Israel fought a bitter 50-day war with Hamas in Gaza last year, in which about 2,200 Palestinians were killed and 73 died on the Israeli side.
Rightwing politicians, including members of Netanyahu's cabinet, criticised an August 26 truce, saying that the military should have kept up its offensive until Hamas was removed from power.
Netanyahu is in the process of trying to get a centre-right government confirmed by a restive parliament, and is hoping to entice hard-line former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman to reverse his decision to take his Yisrael Beitenu party into opposition.
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