WSJ: Gaining Control over Southern Gaza could Take ‘Israel’ Months

By Staff, Agencies

The Wall Street Journal predicted that “Gaining control over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip could take the ‘Israeli’ army months,” citing sources in the “Israeli” military, on Monday.

The daily further reported that the “Israeli” army was “surprised by the extent of Hamas’s vast military network in southern Gaza and are finding more tunnels and weapons than they expected.”

“Their modus operandi now is to harass our soldiers and then go back into the tunnels,” an unnamed “Israeli” officer told WSJ.

According to the source, such Hamas’s attacks tend to originate from cells of two to five fighters.

“While months of fighting have destroyed the core of Hamas’s command, the group is still able to carry out effective guerilla attacks,” the report points out.

Michael Milshtein, a former senior “Israeli” military intelligence officer, commenting on Hamas's fighting capabilities, said: “We’re speaking about half a guerrilla and half an army.”

According to the report, a senior “Israeli” officer commanding forces in Khan Younis said that there is no change in “Israeli” policy. “‘Israel’ has more boots on the ground in Khan Younis than it had in northern Gaza during the start of the ground operation, and so there are fewer widespread airstrikes to avoid harming Israeli troops,” added the course cited by WSJ.