‘Two Years to Knock Out Hamas in Rafah’ – Israeli 12 Brigade Chief

Israeli Commander of the 12th Brigade says dismantling the Hamas structure in Rafah will take at least two years.

Hevri El-Baz said the task of eliminating Hamas is not something easy and this issue requires time and great military pressure that needs to be applied consistently on Hamas fighters operating in Rafah.

The Israeli army entered Rafah on 6 May and they are still battling Palestinian resistance fighters there with daily losses in lives and hardware.

The Israeli military commander says Hamas is waging a guerrilla war made up of independent groups which makes the task of dealing with it more difficult.

These groups are a broad representation of the Palestinian resistance movement including the Islamists Saraya Al Quds and the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigade of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Israeli commander warns whoever thinks that the sirens will stop within the next year is throwing sands in the eyes, adding fighting in Rafah is going slowly and Hamas fighters have studied us well.

The comments made by El-Baz are being uttered when there are at least nine brigades operating in this small city. Also, it shows the stiff resistance they are encountering from the different Palestinian armed groups.  

The commander is echoing the views made by many Israelis including Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari who openly said Hamas can’t be beaten in Gaza and whoever believes that is throwing sand in the public’s eyes.  

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Israel Bombs ‘Journalists Tent’ in Khan Younis

Israeli forces have bombed a tent housing Palestinian journalists near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing two and wounding nine others while burning them alive.

At least nine journalists were injured. They are Ahmed Mansour, Hassan Eslaih, Ahmed Al-Agha, Mohammad Fayek, Abdallah Al-Attar, Ihab Al-Bardini, Mahmoud Awad, Majed Qdeih, and Ali Eslaih.

At least two of the wounded journalists are in critical condition, one of them with severe burns and the other with a head injury from shrapnel.

In a disturbing footage circulating on social media, journalist Ahmed Mansout can be seen consumed by fire as people and rescue workers tried desperately to put it out. Mansour is a father and a journalist for Palestine Today.

“(Israeli) Missiles burned Colleague Ahmed Mansour and is still in intensive care, suffering from severe burns as a result of the targeting of the tent where he is sitting in the journalists’ camp at Nasser Hospital,” Wael Abo Omar, a Palestinian journalist in the blockaded enclave, said on X.

Mahmoud Bassam, a photojournalist based in Gaza, said Mansour “needs a miracle” to recover from the severe burns.

Journalist Helmi al-Faq’awi was tragically killed in the horrific Israeli attack along with another man, Yousef al-Khuzendar.

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