Israeli Defense Minister: Over 100 Hamas Operatives Caught in Two Days

Jerusalem, 25 January, 2024 (TPS) -- During a visit with soldiers, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that more than 100 Hamas operatives have been caught in the last two days.

“Hamas is collapsing into its own tunnels that it painstakingly dug. Every place it thought would be a trap for IDF soldiers becomes an area where we hit it,” Gallant told to soldiers serving in Yahalom, an elite combat engineering unit.

“In the past day and a half, we have over 100 captives, some of them who came up from underground, in the Khan Yunis area and also in other places, because they realize that they can’t fight against the IDF,” he said.

Israeli forces are strengthening their operational control over Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest city. It is also regarded as a personal stronghold of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whose family lives there. Israeli ground forces completed the encirclement of Khan Yunis on Tuesday.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children and soldiers held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 136. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.