Gallant: IDF’s Rafah campaign ‘cutting off Hamas’s air’ by blocking crossing, destroying tunnels

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, during a visit to southern Gaza’s Rafah, claims that Hamas is unable to recover from Israeli operations.

“The fighting here in Rafah signifies a very important thing, we are actually shutting off Hamas’s air — Rafah crossing, the tunnels. The result is that they have no way of arming themselves, they have no way to equip themselves, they have no way to bring in reinforcements, they have no way to take care of their casualties, and we see this very well,” he says to troops.

“Their fighting spirit is broken and time actually works against them, not for them,” Gallant says.

“Contrary to the stories of some people who are in the tunnels shouting and broadcasting to those who are in the hotels in Qatar… in practice, Hamas… is being worn down. We are destroying the tunnels, we are destroying the weapons, and reaching places it never dreamed we would reach, at great depths below the ground,” he says.

Gallant says the IDF will “continue and push until we reach a situation where we choke [Hamas’s] breathing tube, and do not allow it to rebuild its strength. This is the goal of this operation.”