Five IDF battalions are operating around-the-clock in Gaza, working to push back Hamas terrorists, remove rocket launchers and to eradicate the terror regime’s infrastructure. The urban warfare, the house-to-house combat presents significant threats, from terrorists waiting in ambush, booby-trapped buildings, and suicide terrorists, who are wearing bomb vests and run towards soldiers while they detonate themselves.

“We are fighting house-to-house” explains one senior officer who has been in Gaza since Shabbos, who details the hazards as his forces learn and see first-hand the determination of the barbaric enemy.

Truth be said, very few know what is really taking place, since this time around, the cameras are far from the front line. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has made a policy decision, to keep the press away, releasing only information cleared by the military censor. Soldiers in the heat of the fighting are not armed with cellular telephones, collected from them before entering the Hamas-controlled area.

The senior officer confirms the initial entry went well, attributing this to a number of factors including the timing and heavy aerial, artillery and other support. The area is extremely densely populated he explained, and the buildings taken over have revealed large quantities of weaponry. “Every moment there is another encounter. There is an encounter with a male/female suicide bomber almost every two hours. They run towards us as they prepare to blow themselves up, hoping to take the soldiers along with them. Many of the buildings are booby-trapped and we have found many hidden doors from these structures leading to the complex underground tunnel network.”

“We are operating very aggressively and the damage to the infrastructure is significant. Hamas is seeking to pull us deeper into the densely populated areas, where the dangers are greater.”

The road ahead is a difficult one by most assessments as senior commanders realize Hamas still possesses the ability to fire rockets into Israel at will.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)