|
Trending Topics
|
IDF Adjusts Its Methods to Dismantle Hamas Stronghold
(Times of Israel) Lazar Berman - For the past three weeks, an IDF brigade combat team has been operating in Zeitoun on the outskirts of Gaza City. This is the seventh time Israeli forces have attacked the neighborhood since Oct. 7. Officers in the combat team assured the Times of Israel on Thursday that this time, the result would be different since they are fighting in a new manner. Brigade commander Col. S. said a central element of the operation is the slow dismantling of neighborhoods in which Hamas operated. "The focus on the tunnels underground, and on the booby-trapped buildings above ground, allows us to guarantee that at the end of the mission, it will be very hard for the enemy to return to this territory. We can't guarantee 100% that the enemy who fled won't return to a certain piece of territory, but without its combat infrastructure, we will be able to destroy them during their attempts to return." Israeli officers said they were certain the tactic is legal and effective. Lt.-Col. G. stressed, "Hamas decided to take all the homes in Gaza and turn them into terror infrastructure. There is no house where we didn't find an explosive, Nukhba uniforms, weapons, RPGs. There isn't a house. The moment it decided to operate in that way, we had no choice but to destroy the infrastructure above ground in almost every place." "In every place in Zeitoun, Hamas prepared for defense and attacks against our forces. It decided to turn everything into a military array. So we are destroying everything we need to in order to destroy Hamas....The next terrorists that arrive won't have anywhere to come back to. They'll come back to open ground, from which they can't threaten our forces." Officers insisted that they are doing everything they can to get civilians away from the fighting. "There are preliminary activities that we do in order to evacuate the population to interior areas so they won't be on the battlefield," said Cpt. L. "We are unequivocally operating in a way that is moral, ethical and appropriate." IDF forces designate areas as "green" or "red" based on the presence of civilians. In red areas, rules of engagement are highly restricted.