Israeli Army eliminates almost all Hamas fighters in Rafah Chief of General Staff says

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have successfully eliminated at least 900 militants and leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas during a recent operation in Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip.

During a meeting with the Israeli military in Rafah, IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi announced this achievement, Caliber.Az reports via Russian sources.

"We count over 900 terrorists killed, including commanders, at least one battalion commander, many company commanders and many operatives. The current effort, and the reason we are working here week after week, is now focused on the destruction of the terrorist infrastructure and the destruction of the underground infrastructure, which takes time. Therefore, this is a long campaign, because we do not want to leave Rafah with the terrorist infrastructure intact,” Halevi said.

This announcement comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Israel was nearing the completion of its mission to eliminate Hamas' military capabilities in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, The Jerusalem Post quoted Halevi stating that the IDF was virtually "finished" with Hamas fighters in Rafah. "We are approaching the point where we can say that we have completely destroyed the Hamas brigade based in Rafah," Halevi said.