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IDF Will Pace Itself as It Hunts Down Hamas Leaders
(Israel Hayom) Lilach Shoval - The IDF aims to create a ground operation that will lead to the dismantling of Hamas. Simultaneously, this operation is intended to exert heavy pressure to secure the release of the captives. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari made it clear that Israeli troops would "pursue [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar until they reached him," adding that "the population in Gaza is already talking about Sinwar as having brought about a calamity." Hagari said that IDF land, air, and sea forces have eliminated high-ranking Hamas officials, and they are expanding their operations in a graded manner. The assessment is that the war will last at least several months. The IDF plans to advance slowly but surely rather than try to stage a master stroke; they talk about a protracted process. Such a course of action allows the enhancement of capabilities of the forces that will operate slowly, and enables them to work cautiously in a way that preserves their protection. In the post-war situation there will be a need for a new arrangement or buffer zone between Israel and Gaza and a mechanism that would tackle the arms trafficking from Sinai into Gaza.