We dealt ‘a heavy blow’ to Hamas, Southern Command chief says

GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman briefs the press and says that despite the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip, “Operation Protective Edge isn’t over; the troops are ready and prepared on the border of the Strip.”

“If Hamas violates the ceasefire later on, it will make a grave error,” he says.

Summing up the nearly month-long operation in the Gaza Strip, Turgeman says the IDF “dealt a heavy blow to Hamas” and other terror groups, that Israel has “harmed Hamas’s rocket firing capability” and that the IDF successfully “located and destroyed all the tunnels entering Israel.” According to IDF figures, its soldiers destroyed 32 tunnels running beneath the border.

“We’ve demonstrated the ability [to destroy tunnels] and will be able to do so in the future,” he says.

Turgeman says residents of communities in southern Israel can return home in safety.