(A7) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday visited the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, which works to explore and destroy the underground route and terrorist centers in the Gaza Strip.
He received an overview from the Chief Engineering Officer and the unit’s commander about the unit’s activities in the war, to locate and destroy terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The minister toured the unit’s training facilities and observed the exploration and destruction capabilities of the underground complexes. The Minister of Defense expressed his appreciation to the soldiers of the unit for their activities in all combat centers.
“There is no place I go to in Gaza – everywhere I go and meet the soldiers – and where they don’t talk to me about Yahalom. The commanders of the battalions, the brigades, the divisions, and this comes as a result of your presence everywhere,” the defense minister told the soldiers.
He added, “Unfortunately, this action comes at a price and the unit paid a heavy price. On the other hand, we can see the results clearly – Hamas dug tunnels to use against us with all kinds of methods – in practice Hamas is collapsing into its own tunnels that it dug with great effort. Anywhere it thought would be a trap for IDF soldiers turns into an area where we strike it, in many different ways.”
Gallant elaborated on the losses suffered by Hamas. “They have hundreds of dead who were struck underground as a result of your activities and those of your friends. In addition, in the last day and a half alone – we have over 100 prisoners who came up, some of them underground, in the Khan Yunis area and also in other places – because they realize that they cannot fight against the IDF. It’s thanks to you and your friends.”
“This is an expression of our systemic and strategic need. We have not forgotten what happened on October 7. Anyone who killed our children and raped our women and kidnapped our elders, we will go and take his head off, all of them. Until the end, we will strike them all, anyone you meet, every Hamas terrorist is eliminated, those who surrender are taken away and we move on. We will not succeed in striking everyone, but we will reach a point where we will dismantle this organization, it will not control Gaza, it will not have a military force.”
“It’s a battle of determination and perseverance, it will not be a day or a week, but at the end the result will be very clear. Hamas has no reserves, it has nowhere to get weapons or ammunition, it doesn’t know how to take care of its wounded properly, it doesn’t know how to do investigations, it’s on the run. The only thing that can help it, in its opinion, is that we don’t go for its head, that’s the only thing. When a Hamas force or a Hamas battalion meets the IDF – the result is clear, and those who don’t understand what the result is should go to Shati, to Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, to Jabalia, to all the places you’ve been, and they understand it today, in Khan Yunis, in western Khan Yunis, people come out in very long lines and surrender now in western Khan Yunis, thousands of them. Persist, do your work and we will bring the result. There is a lot of appreciation for what you are doing throughout the State of Israel, in the public, and certainly in the defense establishment and the IDF,” concluded the Defense Minister.
