Israel's Netanyahu signals 'intense' stage of Gaza fighting is close to end

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that the "intense" phase of fighting in the war-torn Gaza enclosure is close to ending.
• "After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our [evacuated] residents home," Netanyahu said, according to a Reuters translation.
• Asked when the intense stage of combat against Hamas will finalize, Netanyahu on Sunday said, "Very soon," according to a Google translation of the Channel 14 report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that the "intense" phase of fighting in the war-torn Gaza enclosure is close to ending, while stressing the broader war against Hamas wages on.

In a rare live interview with an Israeli news outlet, Netanyahu told Channel 14 that the Jewish state would be able to shift more of its troops near the northern border with Lebanon, where hostilities against the Iran-backed Hezbollah have surged over the past two weeks.

"After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our [evacuated] residents home," Netanyahu said, according to a Reuters translation.

"If we can, we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring [the residents] home."

Thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians have been displaced from their border-facing settlements amid fire exchanged since the October start of the Jewish state's war campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah claim solidarity with the Palestinian plight and have