Hello and welcome to another episode of Battleground with me Saul David and Patrick Bishop.

Well, this week we've just heard from Israeli Prime Minister

Binyaman Netanyahu that the beginning of the end of Hamas is in sight in Gaza,

and presumably victory for the Israelis is imminent. We'll be asking whether he's right

and whether a military victory can actually produce circumstances that will bring an end to

the overall conflict. This comes as the Israeli Defence Forces released figures on their casualties, which as of

Monday were 101 dead and 1,593 wounded. That's since October the 7th. They also claim to

have killed 7,000 Hamas fighters. The IDF is now tightening its grip on Khan Yunus, the major southern city, and closing in,

they say, on the Hamas political leader in the strip, Yachia Sinwa.

Despite some alarm in Washington at the scale of civilian and Palestinian casualties,

support from the White House still seems rock solid, with the US

vetoing a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. Israel are therefore operating

without any US-imposed timetable for finishing military operations in Gaza, at least for the

moment. How close do you think they are to achieving their objective sole?

Well, it seems they're making considerable progress in strictly military terms. Those casualty

figures are quite extraordinary if the numbers of Hamas dead are accurate. Well, as you say, Patrick,

they are since October the 7th. So, of course course the number of casualties since they invaded Gaza will

obviously be smaller than that. But it's still a relatively tiny number and what is not disputed

of the number of Israeli dead, that means they're killing 70 of the enemy for every one of their

soldier who dies. In his address, Netanyahu called on Hamas operatives to give themselves up saying,

don't die for Sinwa. There's been footage of dozens of men stripped to their underwear doing

just that. But who they are is not entirely clear, and the numbers aren't very dramatic

...