Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that “intense” fighting against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is nearly over, more than eight months into the devastating military campaign, AFP reports.

“The intense phase of the fighting against Hamas is about to end,” Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 14 network, without providing a clear timeline.

“It doesn’t mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end in Rafah.”

Netanyahu said that “after the end of the intense phase” in the Gaza Strip, Israel would “redeploy some forces to the north […] primarily for defensive purposes”.