Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has declared that Hamas is collapsing in the Gaza Strip, after more than 100 of its operatives were captured by Israeli troops in recent days. Some of the captives surrendered after hiding in the tunnels that Hamas had dug under the border.
According AP, Gallant praised the soldiers of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, who specialize in underground warfare, for their role in the operation. He said that Hamas had suffered “hundreds of casualties underground” as a result of Yahalom’s actions.
“In the past day and a half, we have over 100 captives, some of them who came up from underground, in the Khan Younis area and also in other places, because they realize that they can’t fight against the IDF,” Gallant said.
He added that Hamas had wasted its resources and efforts on building the tunnels, which he called “a strategic mistake”. He said that every place that Hamas thought would be a trap for IDF soldiers became an area where Israel hit it.
The operation is part of Israel’s ongoing campaign to destroy Hamas’s tunnel network, which it considers a major threat to its security. Israel has used advanced technology, such as sensors and robots, to locate and demolish the tunnels.
Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, has not commented on Gallant’s claims. It has previously said that its tunnels are a defensive measure against Israel’s blockade and attacks on Gaza. Hamas has also claimed to have killed and injured dozens of Israeli soldiers in the tunnels during previous conflicts.
