Fighting in Rafah will Continue till Hamas is Defeated, says IDF General

In a meeting with commanders in Rafah, IDF Sourn Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman declared that battle in sournmost city of Gaza would persist until Hamas is defeated. This statement comes in wake of a dely explosion that killed eight troops in Rafah.

dressing commanders, Maj. Gen. Finkelman acknowledged tragic incident from previous day, where eight soldiers lost ir lives inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle. “We are here after a painful incident that occurred yesterday,” Finkelman said, as per a report from Times of Israel. “We lost fighters and we lost commanders during attack. se are our best sons.”

“We will continue until we defeat it,” says IDF General 

Despite significant losses, Finkelman emphasized necessity of continuing offensive. “Our imperative is to continue moving forward. You are attacking [Hamas’s] Rafah Brige, and we will continue until we defeat it,” he asserted.

Finkelman concluded that pressing on with fighting is essential while also ensuring that incident is thoroughly investigated to learn and improve future operations.

Earlier on Sunday, IDF reported death of anor soldier in Rafah, Staff Sgt. Tzur Abraham, 22, of Nahal Brige’s reconnaissance unit from Modiin. He is scheduled to be buried in his hometown. 

In same incident, a reservist officer serving as a field interrogator with Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 was seriously wounded, and two or soldiers were moderately injured.

312 Israeli soldiers have lost ir life

death of Staff Sgt. Abraham brings total number of troops killed in ground offensive against Hamas and operations on Gaza border to 312. This toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a civilian Defense Ministry contractor killed in Strip.

Despite ongoing conflict, Gaza experienced a day of relative calm on Sunday, following IDF’s announcement of a daily “pause” in fighting to facilitate aid flows. This pause, intended for humanitarian purposes, is set to occur from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily, along a route from Kerem Shalom crossing to Salah al-Din ro, extending northwards.

A map released by IDF showed designated humanitarian route reaching up to Rafah’s European Hospital, approximately 10 kilometers from Kerem Shalom. IDF emphasized that this pause does not signify a cessation of hostilities in sourn Gaza Strip.