"Hamas is collapsing within its own tunnels," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said to soldiers of the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps in a visit to the unit training base on Thursday, according to the Defense Ministry Spokesperson's Unit.
The defense minister debriefed with Chief Engineering Officer Lt. Col. Yoav Turkansky and the commander of the unit, Lt. Col. A., on the unit's activities in the war to locate and destroy terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
After the debriefing, Gallant expressed his appreciation to the soldiers in active duty and reserve units for their efforts in the ongoing war.
"There is no place I go in Gaza - the central camps, Khan Yunis, wherever I go, I meet the fighters - and they don't talk to me about Yahalom," he told the soldiers.
Gallant says price of the war is heavy, but results speak for themselves
"Unfortunately, this operation has costs, and the unit paid a heavy price," he continued. "On the other hand, the results are clearly seen - Hamas dug tunnels to use them against us with all kinds of methods - but in reality, Hamas is collapsing into its own tunnels that it dug with great effort. Every place they thought would be a trap for IDF soldiers became an area where we defeated them in various ways."
He then addressed the IDF's success in eliminating droves of terrorists in Khan Yunis over the past day.
"Hamas has suffered hundreds of casualties underground as a result of your and your friends' operations. And besides, we've only been in the last day and a half, yet we have over 100 terrorists who have come up, some of them underground, in the Khan Yunis area, and in other places - because they understand that they can't fight against the IDF. It's thanks to you and your friends."
"This is an expression of the need for our systematic and strategic operations," he stated, lamenting October 7 and reaffirming the IDF's mission. "We have not forgotten what happened on the seventh of October; whoever killed our children, raped our women, and kidnapped our elders, we will take their heads."
"We will not be able to strike everyone in Hamas, but we will reach a point where we dismantle this organization; it will not control Gaza, and it will not have military force," he assured them.
"Persevere, do your work, and we will bring the result. There is a lot of appreciation for what you are doing throughout the State of Israel, in the public, and certainly in the security establishment and the IDF. Thank you very much, friends; I wish you all much success," he concluded his statement.