WhatsappDespite ceasefire talks, the IDF is using the knockout punch they gave to Hamas’ number 2 Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa’a Salameh to continue its intense offensive in Rafah and Central Gaza.
The IDF reports that more than 40 targets in the Gaza Strip were struck by fighter jets and drones in the last 24 hours. Most of these targets were done in conjunction with IDF ground forces in the Rafah area. Targets included sniper positions, observation posts, buildings used by terror groups, booby-trapped buildings, and other infrastructure.
While the IDF’s Rafah advance continues, combat engineering troops continue to widen the Philadelphia Corridor, expanding the boundary between Egypt and Gaza. Troops are also widening the Neitzarim corridor, further creating a permanent separation between northern and southern Gaza.
Every day Deif’s fate remains in the dark, the clearer it becomes that he was more than likely killed this past Shabbat. By knocking out Deif and Salameh in one hit as well as scores of other Hamas fighters, not only has the moral of Hamas weakened, but more than likely the cracks within the organization will continue to grow. After all - no one wants to die for a losing cause.
There has been a lot of chatter in the USA and within parts of the IDF central command on how it is impossible to truly wipe out Hamas because it is an idea. Ideas may never truly die, but by collapsing the governing and military capabilities of Hamas, the idea they represent lacks a meaningful vessel to carry it to fruition.
With the IDF’s continued successes in Gaza, Hamas is on borrowed time. True, they will try to push a ceasefire deal to save themselves, but whatever deal they beg for will not be to their liking. Their major backers in the Biden administration may have some influence over the White House, but with Biden’s election campaign in free fall, the President’s team appears far more distracted with the campaign than worried about a dying Islamist terror group about to lose control over its territory.
The coming weeks are critical and the current government must ignore last ditch attempts to halt the war and instead finish the job it started. Gaza must remain broken in two and the Philadelphia Corridor at its new expanded width must remain in Israel’s hands permanently. This can be achieved as long as the IDF continues its current momentum and the Prime Minister sticks to his goals.
