Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday (Mar 31) said that the senior Hamas militants, who were held by Israel’s armed forces from war-torn Gaza, during interrogation revealed that “the group is collapsing from within.”
“In the last week or two, hundreds of terrorists have been captured and what they say about what happened to them tells the whole story. They say that Hamas is collapsing from within, the price they are paying is very heavy,” the Times Of Israel quoted Gallant as saying.
“We’re going to eliminate everyone who was involved in the events of October 7, the junior [officials], the senior ones and the very senior ones; those who were inside [Israel] or who gave instructions,” he added while making a reference to the date when the Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented assault against Israel.
He then said that the Israeli Defense Forces would continue with the battle until they reached all “terrorists” in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Referring to Israeli Defence Forces’ operations at Shifa Hospital, where more than 500 members of Hamas were captured and over 200 were killed, Gallant said, “In the last few days, we have also seen very great progress, both in [reaching] the terrorists in the field and the more senior commanders, even very senior ones.”
Israel approves ‘operational plans’ for action in Rafah
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been diagnosed with Hernia, in strong remarks on Sunday (Mar 31) made it clear that the pressure put by the US is not the reason why the Rafah operation has not yet been started.
He also went on to rebuff claims that Ramadan is the reason why Israel has not entered the city of Rafah.
He said that is no “hesitancy” about the operation. “It won’t take a lot of time. Nothing will stop us, not US pressure,” he said.
Netanyahu has been detected with hernia and will be undergoing surgery on Sunday (Mar 31), media reports said citing his office.
(With inputs from agencies)
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