GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 262

Hamas Will Be Destroyed

They’re Making Progress

In a report from i24news.tv we hear that regardless of truce talks, the IDF is making substantial headway in annihilating Hamas, a development that could make those talks irrelevant:

The Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Major General Hartzi Halevi, has announced significant achievements in the ongoing military operations in Rafah, Gaza.

Halevi detailed just what that means:

During a situation assessment held last night (Sunday) with senior military commanders, including Major General Yaron Finkelman, commander of the Southern Command, and Lieutenant Colonel Itzik Cohen, commander of Division 162, Halevi expressed strong optimism about the progress made against the Rafah Brigade.

"We have very high achievements in the fighting in Rafah, and I tell you that I appreciate it very much," Halevi stated. He highlighted the number of terrorists killed, the destruction of infrastructure, and the extensive mapping and destruction of underground tunnels.

He pointed out that Hamas is pretty close to living off of fumes:

"The fact that Division 162 now controls the Philadelphia axis from the sea to the border triangle is very significant for closing the Hamas oxygen pipeline for future smuggling, and we are now handling the underground assets."

Halevi emphasized the critical point being approached in the operation, noting, "We are clearly approaching the point where we will say we dismantled the Rafah Brigade. It is decisive not in the sense that it no longer has terrorists, but in the sense that it does not know how to function as a fighting unit. It has a lot of casualties."

In other words, all they need to do in Rafah is find and eliminate the leadership and probably rescue the hostages at the same time. Halevi is very proud of the troops as evidenced in this quote:

He praised the professionalism and dedication of the troops, urging them to continue their mission: "You will take care until the end of the mission here, to kill as many terrorists as possible, and to destroy as much infrastructure as possible in the future. What is happening here is very, very impressive professionally, keep it up.”

No Deal At All

In spite of comments made by the PM at the Knesset, the poison pill of destroying Hamas remains as we read in an article from The Jerusalem Post:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged his full backing to the three-phase hostage deal that US President Joe Biden unveiled on May 31, after appearing to only partially support it during a Channel 14 interview just one day earlier.

“We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed,” Netanyahu said, publicly taking ownership of the deal for the first time in a public speech to the Knesset during an attack by the opposition on his leadership skill.

Interestingly, Netanyahu doesn’t see this as being duplicitous:

He stressed that his support of the deal “has not changed.”

But that stance does not contradict the goal of defeating Hamas in Gaza.

“We will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the South and the North safely to their homes,” Netanyahu said.

The PM talked about a partial deal, though:

Just one day earlier, during an interview with Channel 14, he appeared to speak to those on his right-wing base that oppose ending the war, when he made a statement seen as backtracking from the deal.

“I am willing to do a partial deal,” Netanyahu stated, adding that “this (is) not a secret that will return a portion of the people” held hostage.

The PM said that getting the hostages back is always on his mind:

“There is no greater [leadership] test than this,” he stated.

Netanyahu told Channel 14 that he was determined to free the hostages.

“We have war goals, first and foremost to free all the captives, that is an objective I am not giving up on, we have already returned 136 hostages and we have another 120.

“I am not giving up on anyone, not the living and not the dead,” he said.

Netanyahu then pivoted to ending the reign of Hamas as well:

In conjunction, he said, Israel is determined to destroy Hamas, not just to eliminate any threat the terror group posed to Gaza, but to send a clear message to Israel’s enemies planning to carry out another October 7 attack, he said.

“We have to defeat the arm [Hamas] that carried out this massacre,” he said as he referred to the Hamas-led invasion in which over 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

The IDF has to do this, “not only to eliminate them [Hamas],” he said, “but also to make it clear that this is what will be done to those who massacre Jews. This is what will be done to those who massacre the people of Israel,” he said. “I am determined to achieve this victory” over Hamas, Netanyahu stressed. “A large majority of the people want it and I am sure we will achieve it.”

The PM talked about the so called “day after” questions:

Netanyahu also addressed the issue of the day after Hamas’s defeat.

“To have the day after Hamas, first of all, we need to eliminate Hamas,” Netanyahu said. He deflected criticism leveled against him and his government on the apparent absence of a plan, explaining that “We started dealing with [the day after question] on the second day of the war.”

The National Security Council under the leadership of the National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi held discussions on the matter, he said.

The Gaza Strip must be demilitarized and the IDF must retain military control, he said.

A new government led by local Palestinians, perhaps together with the “management of moderate countries in the region,” could be put in place, Netanyahu said. He hinted at another governance plan, noting that an initial program to have local clans govern had failed because Hamas destroyed them.

He said he is not in favor of resettling the area, though.