Gallant says army will push south to Rafah as Khan Younis offensive wraps up

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that the Israeli military will reach and dismantle Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, just as it is currently working to do to its battalions in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.

“Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade boasted that it would stand against the IDF, it is dismantled, and I am telling you here, we are completing the mission in Khan Younis and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate everyone there who is a terrorist who is trying to harm us,” says Gallant to troops of the IDF’s 98th Division, during a visit to Khan Younis today.

He says the IDF’s operations in Khan Younis are “progressing with impressive results,” and that it is “much more difficult for Hamas.”

“They don’t have weapons, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have the ability to treat the wounded, they have 10,000 dead terrorists and another 10,000 wounded who are not functioning,” Gallant says.

“It’s a blow that is eroding their ability [to fight], but you have to reach all the places,” he says.

Gallant tells the troops that their actions, both above ground and underground in Khan Younis, “brings the return of the hostages closer, because Hamas only understands power.”