On the 22nd, The Times of Israel reported that Israeli Defense Minister Gantz said Israel will “finally succeed” in killing Hamas military chief Dives.
The Israeli defense minister warned that all Hamas leaders remain in danger, while calling on the international community to work to rebuild and develop the Gaza Strip.
Photo: Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a press conference in Tel Aviv, April 22, 2021
A day after a cease-fire began between Israel and Gaza, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Friday night that Israel will eventually succeed in killing Hamas military faction leader Mohammed Deif and warned that all Hamas leaders remain potential targets.
In an interview with Channel 12 News, Gantz also called for a major international effort to rebuild and develop Gaza and improve the lives of its residents.
In response to Hamas’ celebration of its ostensible gains in the 11-day battle , Gantz dismissed such claims.
“We achieved all the goals that were set – serious strikes against Hamas and its operatives, its infrastructure and anything related to its offensive capabilities,” Gantz said. At the same time, he said, “Hamas did not take any effective action except for rocket fire – most of which was intercepted by Israeli defenses. “
While Hamas will “always sell the narrative of victory,” Gantz asserted that, in fact, “Gaza is in ruins because of Hamas’ actions.”
Photo: Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Shin Bet chief Nadav Algaman at a press conference following the ceasefire, May 21, 2021
Asked how long he thought the calm would last, Gantz said, “The next round could be very far away, it could be very close. It depends on the behavior of Hamas. “
Sources said this week that the IDF tried to kill Dif at least twice in the latest operation, but he escaped.
“This will not be our last attempt,” Gantz said.” We will eventually succeed… For all Hamas leaders responsible for shooting and unleashing terror on civilians, they will be held accountable for their own deaths.
Gantz called on the international community to make a major effort to rebuild Gaza, which would involve the Palestinian Authority, countries in the region and other nations.
Photo: Hamas military faction commander Mohammed Dif
Earlier in the day, Gantz said the truce had created an opportunity for peace and that it was time to use diplomacy to establish a new reality “on the ruins of the Hamas leadership’s home.
But he stressed that the project would depend on the return of Israeli prisoners, and the bodies of fallen soldiers long held by Hamas.
Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that from now on Israel would take a tougher stance against Hamas and that any future rocket fire from Gaza would be met with “a whole new level of force. He said Israel had achieved its military objectives in Gaza and had achieved an “extraordinary” success.
Netanyahu said “the rules of the game have changed” and that no rocket fire from the Gaza Strip will now be tolerated.
“We have not only changed the equation of the operation, we have changed the future. If Hamas thinks we will tolerate a ‘hair-trigger’ of rockets, it is wrong.” Netanyahu said he was referring to the sporadic fire that has often been seen in Gaza between two more serious rounds of conflict in recent years.
We will respond to every incident of aggression against the ‘Gaza envelope’ communities or elsewhere in Israel with a whole new level of force,” he said.
The prime minister added that the success of the entire operation – including thwarting Hamas drone and most rocket attacks through the improved Iron Dome missile defense system, as well as countering Hamas attempts to attack from the sea – means that the terror group will in the future be be more careful.
“Most of Hamas’s capabilities have been harmed – much more than Hamas commanders thought. Hamas thought it could fire on Jerusalem and Israeli cities, and we just reacted as usual,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu later issued a statement in English.
Netanyahu said Israel achieved its goal of delivering an “unimaginable blow” to Hamas by destroying the network of terror tunnels it had built in Gaza: the military turned it (the terror tunnel network) into a “death trap.
He said Israel destroyed “a significant part” of Hamas’ underground tunnels, their “subways. Hamas had invested a lot of resources in it.
Netanyahu said “we destroyed more than 100 kilometers” of the network and turned it into a “death trap for terrorists.
He said that although the terrorist group tried to carry out several cross-border attacks, including at the end of the operation, Israel’s underground barrier thwarted the attack and Israel found and “destroyed” the terrorists.
Netanyahu added that not everything about the outcome and impact of the Israeli attack is known to the public, even to Hamas: “We did something bold and innovative and did not get dragged into an unnecessary misunderstanding.”
He said Israel has killed more than 200 terrorists, including 25 senior officials.
Those who did not die, Netanyahu said, “know today that we can find them anywhere – above or below ground. “He called it “an achievement that no army has ever achieved.”
Photo: Palestinians ride past the Al-Shuruq building in Gaza City destroyed by an Israeli airstrike after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on May 21, 2021
He said Hamas may brag when they come out of the tunnels, “but they realize the damage they’ve done to themselves inside Gaza …… They know we have set it back a number of years.”
Netanyahu said the IDF had made “extreme efforts” to keep civilians out of harm’s way and that no other country in the world had taken such steps.
Netanyahu also said he was saddened by every civilian killed in the fighting. He said Israel had inflicted the greatest number of casualties on the Hamas terrorist organization while minimizing its own.
In response to criticism that the cease-fire did not call for the return of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel has not forgotten the bodies of civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham Said, as well as soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shore, and promised to bring them home.
Recent Comments