Israeli troops continued their methodical push into Gaza City, exactly a month after Gaza-based Palestinian Hamas militants launched a bloody rampage into southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking hundreds of others hostage.
Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, commander of the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces, said Israeli soldiers are now fighting in the heart of the Gaza Strip — which he called the “heart of terrorism” — for the first time in decades. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day for the first time that Israeli forces will likely have to be an occupying security force for a time if and when Hamas fighters are ousted from their strongholds in the densely populated enclave
“Our actions strike at the core of Hamas’ capabilities. We have eliminated dozens of commanders, exposed many tunnels and we are severely damaging the enemy,” Gen. Finkelman told reporters outside Gaza, according to a statement released Tuesday by the IDF.
“Every day and every hour, the forces kill terrorists, expose tunnels, destroy weapons, and continue to go forward to the enemy’s concentrations. We continue with all our strength with the goal of defeating the abominable Hamas organization,” he said.
Echoing other Israeli officials and security personnel, Gen. Finkelman dismissed calls for a cease-fire coming from governments and organizations outside Israel and reminded the public that the IDF’s war against Hamas would not be brief.
“The mission is clear — to dismantle the Hamas organization. It will require time and we will continue to fight until we achieve it over a long period of time,” he told reporters. “We are progressing according to the right pace, according to the right operational pace, and we will continue to do this going forward.”
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He said IDF soldiers in Southern Command have been fighting non-stop since October 7 with the goal of defeating Hamas and creating the conditions for the safe return of the hostages.
“On that terrible day, we failed in our mission. Those difficult events are burned in us [and] burned in me, deeply,” Gen. Finkelman said. “We still need to get to the bottom of that.”
Palestinian health officials now say that more than 10,000 Palestinians, both militants and civilians, have been killed over the past month, including some in the West Bank. The Biden administration has urged the Netanyahu government to consider a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to allow aid and other supplies to reach trapped civilians inside Gaza.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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