Initial numbers coming out of Gaza from the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation “Guardian of the Walls” shows that Palestinian terrorists took a beating in response to the countless terrorist attacks that they launched against Israel over the last couple of weeks.
“During the 11 days of the Guardian of the Walls operation, IDF forces destroyed over 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Hamas’ ‘Metro’ – the network of underground tunnels created by the terrorist organization to protect both members and munitions and to enhance its mobility and freedom of action,” Arutz Sheva 7 reported. The IDF reported that they also killed 225 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, including 25 senior commanders.
Palestinian terrorists had fired approximately 4,340 rockets at Israel, with nearly 650 failing and falling inside of Gaza. Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted an estimated 90% of the remaining rockets that were launched.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the damage that Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, suffered was so severe that they were not yet even aware of the full extent of the damage.
“When we embarked on this operation together, I defined its central objective as being to strike a serious blow against the terrorist organizations,” Netanyahu said. “To harm their capabilities. And to restore quiet while entrenching deterrents. And that is exactly what we did.”
“The public doesn’t know everything yet, nor does Hamas. Our accomplishments will be revealed in time,” Netanyahu said. “We caused maximum damage to Hamas with minimal casualties on the Israeli side, and of course we grieve all loss of human life.”
Netanyahu, a former IDF commando, hailed the work of the IDF in destroying Hamas’ terror tunnels, saying that they would not be able to hide any longer.
The two sides reached a ceasefire agreement that went into effect on Friday afternoon, with the Palestinian terrorists taking as many final shots as possible before the deadline arrived. However, IDF officials were concerned that the terrorists would launch a much larger attack during the final moments and thus prepared to respond in case events took a turn for the worse.
Arutz Sheva 7 reported separately:
The IDF made its plans accordingly, sending dozens of combat-ready aircraft up into the skies over Gaza and letting Hamas know that if the terrorist organization did attack, Israel’s response would be wholly disproportionate. …
The target list was also sent to Egypt and to Hamas itself, which was told in unmistakable terms that if they chose to strike Tel Aviv and the region surrounding it, the response would be brutal. Meanwhile, all of Gaza could not fail to be aware of the presence of IDF aircraft overhead; they were flying low enough to be both seen and heard.
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