IDF’s southern commander: Hamas losing morale, but we need more time
Sami Turgeman says army has uncovered and is disabling most terror tunnels dug under Israeli border
July 25, 2014, 8:43 pm
Benjamin
Netanyahu, left, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, center, and GOC
Southern Command Sami Turgeman speaking at a military installation in
Israel's south on Monday, July 21, 2014. (Screen capture: Channel 2)
Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip
are weakening and losing morale “in all parameters,” the commander of
IDF forces in southern Israel said Friday, but added that the troops on
the ground needed more time to completely root out terror tunnels
burrowing into Israel.
“The
spirit of the Hamas terrorists is weakening,” Southern Region Commander
Maj. Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman said during a press conference with
Israeli media outlets. “I see terrorists in distress, abandoned by their
commanders who deserted them at the front and stayed behind… and facing
them, our reserve and standing army units led by commanders at the
vanguard.”
Turgeman went on to assert that the IDF was
claiming significant victories against Hamas on all fronts, and was
sufficiently prepared both on the defensive and the offensive side.
“Every day of combat over there is a day of
accomplishments for us, both on the issue of tunnels and on the issue of
enemy units,” he said.
“Up until today we have managed to locate and
destroy at least half of the enemy’s attack tunnels,” he added. “Hamas
has built some of these [tunnels] in five years, and some of them in
four years, and in a week we were able to significantly impair this
ability. Every day of combat will allow us to harm this infrastructure
more and more.”
Soldiers
from the Givati brigade seen at the entrance to a Hamas ‘attack tunnel’
on Wednesday, July 23. The brigade’s mission is to target Hamas’
tunnels that cross under the Israel-Gaza border and enable Hamas
terrorists to infiltrate into Israel and carry out attacks. (Photo
credit: IDF Spokesperson/FLASH90)
Turgeman said that the IDF was increasing the
pace of its operations in order to further its military achievements
before a ceasefire was announced.
“We understand that there are additional
‘clocks’ in this arena that can also affect us,” he said, referring to
the international efforts to broker a ceasefire, “so we are making the
most of all the time at our disposal and will take advantage of the
situation to the utmost in order to free our communities from the threat
of tunnels.”
Earlier Friday, a senior Hamas official told
the Times of Israel that his organization was studying an American
ceasefire proposal, and that the organization’s official response
would be given in the coming hours, or on Saturday. Channel 2 reported
that the group was ‘inclined to accept’ the offer.
Later, the Israeli cabinet was reported to
have unanimously rejected ceasefire proposals presented by US Secretary
of State John Kerry.
The Hamas official added that the Americans
presented general guarantees via Qatar to remove the blockade of Gaza.
At the same time, he emphasized that the American ceasefire proposal
explicitly indicates that Israeli military operations must stop and so
must the demolition of tunnels.
Israel’s cabinet was debating the American proposal from mid-Friday afternoon.
The IDF said it targeted 45 sites overnight
Thursday-Friday. The targets included a command post which housed Hamas
internal security offices, as well as the office of senior Hamas member
Ra’at Habat, according to the IDF.
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