Israel cannot erase Hamas from existence, White House says

Hamas still has a "significant force posture" inside Gaza after almost three months of Israeli strikes and a ground offensive, the White House said on Wednesday.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was an "attainable goal" for Israel to knock out the military threat posed by Hamas but it could probably not "erase the group from existence”.

“Are you going to eliminate the ideology? No. And are you likely going to erase the group from existence? Probably not,” Kirby said.