Major Fighting in Gaza Close to an End

For some time now the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have described the current fighting in the city of Rafah as the final stage of its ground offensive against Hamas. When it is complete, they expect to change over to a different mode of operations in which they respond in a smaller scale to reappearances of terrorists anywhere in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi said that Israeli forces have killed over 900 terrorists during the offensive in Rafah, including "at least one battalion commander, many company commanders and many operatives."

He acknowledged that the campaign in the city is taking a long time and explained that the IDF does not want to leave terrorist infrastructure in Rafah.

And that highlights a key challenge for the Israelis, because they may need 6 months to demolish all of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels that run under the border with Egypt. The IDF estimate there are at least 25 of these cross-border tunnels and they all need to be demolished or blocked to prevent Hamas from rearming.

They are difficult to discover, cleverly designed, long, deep underground, and rebuilt since the Egyptians flooded them some years ago. Indeed, the Egyptians are embarrassed about the number that exist now, and Israel may need their help to demolish them.

This video report from CNN: