On Wednesday, Jonathan Conricus, the acting spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), emphasized their commitment to dismantling all of Hamas' strongholds in Gaza, as reported by the media.
“The mission [inside Gaza] is to engage with Hamas and simply to dismantle each and every Hamas stronghold that is buried underground in bunkers. We are doing that in slow and meticulous order according to plan. Our advances are good and solid. It is a very challenging battlespace to be in. Hamas has prepared the battlefield, unfortunately, very well. It is totally enmeshed with tunnels,” The Guardian reported.
He mentioned that many of these tunnels are short, tactical passages primarily serving as fighting positions, enabling Hamas to transition between allies.
“To emerge and then submerge and some are longer and deeper and wider. But we are slowly getting to all of them and there are gains achieved each day of the fight,” he said.
The directive is indeed to apprehend or eliminate all Hamas leaders.
“Those who planned, facilitated, and executed the murderous 7 October massacre in Israel. We’ve said so clearly. All of them are dead men walking,” he said.
According to The Guardian, he stated that it's only a matter of time, both inside and outside of Gaza, until Israel captures or eliminates these Hamas leaders.
(With Agency Inputs)
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