Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday during a visit with Israeli troops that members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are “operating deep underground” and fighting Hamas within its own terror tunnel infrastructure.
In a statement, the Israeli ministry of defense released a portion of Gallant’s remarks to the IDF’s Division 162:
Following the situation assessment, I can conclude that Gaza City and the northern area of the Gaza Strip are on the verge of collapsing [in reference to Hamas infrastructure]. This Division eliminated hundreds of terrorists on the eastern flank – in the area of Jabaliya and its surroundings. Hundreds of terrorists have surrendered. These operations are conducted above ground, but our troops also descend deep underground to locate [Hamas] bunkers, command centers, communication rooms and weapon storages.
These activities are very serious –you are very determined and you have the results to show for it. The Northern Brigade Commander in Gaza City, Randor, who was eliminated, was one of the terrorists we fought against. His two brothers, terrorists in their own right, are currently being interrogated in Israel.
They [the terrorists] are already telling us about the murders conducted on October 7th, among other things. We are expanding our achievements, and soon we will eliminate the entirety of Hamas’ infrastructure in Gaza City.
The fighting is ongoing – including in the south. We need all the strength and determination of the nation of Israel for this war. We are resilient.
On this Hannukah holiday and every other day – the people of Israel are united. We are united and determined to strike Hamas and destroy this evil organization. We will achieve our goals – we will return the hostages and we will destroy the Hamas [terrorist] organization.
Tuesday night marks the sixth night of Hanukkah. The 162nd Division is part of the armored corps in the IDF’s southern command.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
