The Israeli military is gearing up to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt as it wraps up the offensive in the Hamas stronghold of Khan Younis, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Friday.
The defense minister assured that “we are completing the mission in Khan Younis and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate everyone there who is a terrorist who is trying to harm us.” The Egyptian border, particularly the area around Rafah Border Crossing, is a major weapons supply line and terrorist escape route for Hamas in Gaza.
Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza, is infested with underground terror tunnels leading into Egypt. According to an October 2023 report by the DC-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the “tunnels to Egypt played key Role in arming Hamas.”
With the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tightening the noose around Hamas’s terrorist leadership and jihadi fighters running out of arms and ammunition, the closing of the terrorist supply lines though Rafah is a key Israeli military objective.
Since the Gaza ground offensive began nearly 100 days ago, the IDF has eliminated 10,000 Hamas terrorist fighters and wounded thousands more, the defense minister disclosed.
“They don’t have weapons, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have the ability to treat the wounded, they have 10,000 dead terrorists and another 10,000 wounded who are not functioning,” the minister said.
The figures were announced amid mounting casualties among Hamas terrorists in recent days. “10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed and 10,000 wounded, up from around 9,000 killed and around 8,000 wounded around a week and a half ago,” the Jerusalem Post reported Friday citing the minister.
The Times of Israel reported the minister’s remarks:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that the Israeli military will reach and dismantle Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, just as it is currently working to do to its battalions in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.“Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade boasted that it would stand against the IDF, it is dismantled, and I am telling you here, we are completing the mission in Khan Younis and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate everyone there who is a terrorist who is trying to harm us,” says Gallant to troops of the IDF’s 98th Division, during a visit to Khan Younis today.He says the IDF’s operations in Khan Younis are “progressing with impressive results,” and that it is “much more difficult for Hamas.”“They don’t have weapons, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have the ability to treat the wounded, they have 10,000 dead terrorists and another 10,000 wounded who are not functioning,” Gallant says.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that the Israeli military will reach and dismantle Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, just as it is currently working to do to its battalions in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.“Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade boasted that it would stand against the IDF, it is dismantled, and I am telling you here, we are completing the mission in Khan Younis and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate everyone there who is a terrorist who is trying to harm us,” says Gallant to troops of the IDF’s 98th Division, during a visit to Khan Younis today.He says the IDF’s operations in Khan Younis are “progressing with impressive results,” and that it is “much more difficult for Hamas.”“They don’t have weapons, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have the ability to treat the wounded, they have 10,000 dead terrorists and another 10,000 wounded who are not functioning,” Gallant says.“It’s a blow that is eroding their ability [to fight], but you have to reach all the places,” he says.Gallant tells the troops that their actions, both above ground and underground in Khan Younis, “brings the return of the hostages closer, because Hamas only understands power.”
As the Israeli military combs though Gaza, it continues to uncover Hamas’s vast and sophisticated underground terrorist infrastructure. The IDF troops in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Al Shati uncovered a large terror tunnel equipped with an elevator.
“The IDF released on Saturday footage from Israeli forces’ operations in the northern Gaza Strip, depicting a sophisticated tunnel system featuring an underground elevator,” the Israel news website Ynet wrote Saturday.
Israeli armed forces continued to destroy Hamas’s terrorist fighting force operating across Gaza. “During targeted raids in the northern and central Gaza Strip over the last day, IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed numerous anti-tank missile launchers,” the military revealed in a statement on Saturday morning. “During a targeted raid on an office belonging to a Hamas terrorist, the troops located military equipment, weapons, and Hamas documents.”
The Israeli military on Saturday hit Hezbollah terrorist posts in southern Lebanon in response to repeated rocket fire into Israel. The Iran-backed terrorist group has intensified cross-border attacks as Hamas struggles to hold control over Gaza.
“Throughout the day, three launches were identified crossing from Lebanon and falling in open areas in Bar’am and Zar’it, northern Israel. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said in a press release Saturday afternoon.
“A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including two observation posts in the areas of Marwahin and Ayta ash Shab, a military command center in the area of Yaroun in which Hezbollah terrorists operated, and a launch post from which launches toward northern Israel were carried out,” the IDF added.
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