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by Dave Bender
Infantry commander briefs his troops before entering Gaza. Photo IDF
Soldiers and officers in front-line Israeli army commando units fighting in Gaza are telling the press that, in face-to-face battle, Hamas militants usually break and run, rather than fight.
“In the last few days, in face-to-face clashes with paratroopers, Givati, and Engineering Corps soldiers, we’re seeing a lot of valor among our troops and a lot of cowardice from the Hamas,” a Lt.-Col. in the elite Duvdevan unit told the Israeli NRG news site.
“In every case, the terrorists threw down their weapons and fled into their warrens or back into the Strip,” he added.
“We’re operating in one of the villages that, in the last few years, was responsible for the largest amount of terror attacks, by bombs along the security fence and tunnels into Israeli communities in the vicinity,” the officer said.
But, for Israel, the grinding down of Hamas’ rocket and tunneling abilities is coming at a high price, despite an over 80 percent public approval rating for continuing the operation, in order to thwart incessant rocket fire and destroy dozens of recently discovered tunnels. Many of the tunnels are coming up within Israeli civilian towns and villages, including near kindergartens and kibbutz dining rooms, according to the IDF.
Now in its 20th day, 43 soldiers and officers have fallen in Operation Protective Edge, and some 150 are hospitalized with wounds from anti-tank and sniper fire, possibly implying that the Palestinians are using “stand-off” tactics, in order to draw Israeli troops deeper into Gaza, likely to make it easier to kidnap soldiers or lure them into booby-trapped areas, like several structures the army discovered before the bombs could be set off.
The army said in a statement Sunday morning that Palestinian terrorists had fired more than 2450 rockets and mortars at Israel since the beginning of the operation.
The IDF said it had targeted over “3,747 terror targets with ground, naval and aerial capabilities, including over 30 tunnels.”
“We intend to impair Hamas’ capability to attack Israel,” the statement read.
Watch an IDF video of one day’s fighting:
