Gallant tells soldiers over 100 terrorists captured recently, ‘Hamas collapsing in its own tunnels

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with soldiers of the Yahalom Combat Engineering Corps unit on Thursday evening, where he praised the troops for their performance during the Iron Swords war.

“There is nowhere that I go in Gaza - Gaza City, the central camps, Khan Younis, everywhere I go, where I don’t meet fighters that talk about Yahalom,” Gallant said. 

Gallant noted the recent catastrophe where 21 IDF soldiers died in one operation, including several from the Yahalom unit. 

“In this operation, unfortunately, there are costs and the unit paid a heavy price,” Gallant said. “On the other hand, you see the results clearly – Hamas dug tunnels in order to use them against us using all kinds of methods – in practice Hamas is collapsing into its own tunnels that it dug with great effort.” 

The defense minister said the IDF had turned the tunnels against Hamas, noting “every place he [Hamas] thought would be trap for IDF soldiers becomes an area where we defeat him.” 

Gallant told them that many Hamas terrorists have been killed or captured in recent days because of their efforts.

“They have hundreds of killed in attacks underground as a result of your work and that of your friends,” Gallant informed the Yahalom soldiers.

“Additionally, only in the last day and a half, we have captured over 100 who have come up, some from underground, in Khan Younis and other places, because they understand that they cannot fight against the IDF.” 

“We won’t succeed in striking everyone, but we will reach a situation where we will break this organization, it will not control Gaza, and it will not have military power,” Gallant stated. 

On Thursday evening, the IDF released footage from the Paratroopers Brigade during ground operations in Khan Younis, where dozens of Hamas terrorists were killed in fighting over the previous day. 

The soldiers discovered dozens of AK-47 rifles, grenades, mortar shells, ammunition, and explosives intended to be fired from drones. 

🔴During IDF operations in Khan Yunis, troops from the Paratroopers Brigade located dozens of AK-47s, grenades, mortar shells and explosives used to fire from drones. pic.twitter.com/cLK7X5e9R6

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 25, 2024

In one incident, the soldiers came under fire by three terrorists shooting from a building. The soldiers returned fire, killing two of the terrorists immediately. After using a drone to locate the third terrorist, he was eliminated. 

The IDF announced on Thursday morning that Hamas terrorists had been operating inside and around the Nasser Hospital and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, including a rocket launch from the Nasser Hospital compound, detected two weeks ago. 

The IDF is cooperating with hospital staff and has not issued evacuation orders for either of the medical facilities. However, the IDF stated that it distributed information in Arabic for those wanting to leave.