The commander of the Israeli 12th Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Hevri El-Baz, said that dismantling the military capabilities of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, will take at least two more years.

The commander of the Israeli 12th Brigade added that the task of eliminating the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Hamas movement - is not easy and the matter requires time and great military pressure.

He also confirmed that Hamas is waging a guerrilla war in Rafah consisting of independent groups, which makes the task of dealing with it more difficult.

The commander of the Israeli 12th Brigade also stated that anyone who believes that the sirens will stop within the next year is throwing sand in the eyes of the Israelis.

Since May 6, the Israeli occupation army has been launching a ground attack on the city of Rafah, and the next day it seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah land crossing with Egypt, closing it to removing wounded people for treatment and bringing in already scarce humanitarian aid.

On the 29th of that month, the Israeli army announced the completion of control over the Philadelphia (Salah al-Din) border axis, which means that the Gaza Strip is effectively separated from Egypt.

A distant goal

Last Thursday, Israeli Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter considered that eliminating Hamas’ ability to rule the Gaza Strip is still far from being achieved.

Although 9 months have passed since the start of its war on Gaza, Israel has been unable to achieve any of its declared goals, especially eliminating Hamas’ capabilities and recovering Israeli prisoners from the Strip.

The Israeli war, which has continued on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has resulted in more than 124,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.

Israel continues its war despite UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah, take measures to prevent acts of genocide, and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies