We will get Hamas leaders wherever they hide, says Ya’alon

Now Defense Minister Ya’alon speaks.

He offers condolences to the family of Daniel Tragerman, 4, who was laid to rest two hours ago, and wishes for the recovery of Netanel Maman, hit by a rocket on Friday night and in critical condition.

He says that “if the heads of Hamas think they can wear us out… they are wrong. We’re not rushing anywhere. We have patience.”

He says the operation will end “only when there is calm in the south” and when there is no more rocket fire.

Until then, Israel will pound Hamas, “for now from the air” but Israel has “other ways” too.

Israel has hit key Hamas terror leaders, and is using all its intelligence capabilities to find them, “even when they are hiding out among women and children… We know to get to them.”

Ya’alon says Israel is “in the midst of a long, complex operation against a ruthless enemy.”

The harm done to Hamas “is unprecedented but we need patience,” he says. “There are no magic solutions.”

“The only consideration guiding us is the good of Israel and its residents,” he says.

He notes that he met Saturday with council chiefs and residents of the south — “who represent the best of Israel.”

Their “hard feelings” about the situation “are justified,” he says, “and we will help them… We are obligated to restore quiet and security to their lives.” They face “not a ‘drizzle’ of rocket fire” but “daily attempts at murder,” says Ya’alon.