Israeli military chief of staff said on Tuesday (July 2) that this was a ‘long campaign’, through which Israel will accomplish its missions, His address came during what the military said was a visit to Kerem Shalom and an advanced logistics centre established in the Gaza Strip.Halevi said that 900 Hamas militants, including commanders, have been killed by Israeli forces in the Rafah Brigade and the current effort was focused on destroying “terrorist” underground infrastructure, which takes time.Israeli forces bombarded several areas of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in what could be part of a final push of Israel’s intensive military operations in nine months of war.Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded, health officials said. Israel’s military said that two soldiers had been killed in battle a day earlier.Israel’s leaders have said they were winding down the phase of intense fighting against Hamas, the Islamist group that has governed Gaza since 2007, and would soon shift to more targeted operations.