Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant told Israel’s cabinet Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed or injured 60% of Hamas terrorists in Gaza over the nine months of war since the Hamas terror attack of October 7.
Gallant said that some 14,000 Hamas terrorists are thought to have been killed, and 20 of the organization’s 24 battalions eliminated. The terrorists continue to mount sporadic attacks, and its leaders are hiding underground.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer discussed Gallant’s report to the Cabinet, as well as ongoing indirect hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, which are happening via mediators in Cairo, Egypt, and Doha, Qatar.
Breitbart News asked Mencer about the IDF’s control of the Egypt-Gaza border, including the Rafah Crossing and the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, the road alongside the border, where Hamas carried out smuggling operations.
Mencer said that Israel’s control of the border was of key strategic importance. He noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed the Egypt-Gaza border with visiting White House Coordinator to the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk.
The defense minister’s office released a statement Wednesday about Gallant’s own talks with McGurk:
On Tuesday evening (10 July 2024) Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant met with White House Coordinator to the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk. The two discussed the importance of seizing the opportunity created to achieve an agreement for the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. They discussed the challenges that remain in achieving such an agreement, as well as possible solutions to address them.
The parties discussed the progress achieved in the dialogue held between Israel and Egypt under U.S. leadership. This is in accordance to the plan presented by the Minister of Defense at the start of the war, and that was later discussed by the parties involved.
Minister Gallant emphasized the importance of establishing a mechanism that would prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, thus cutting off Hamas supplies. He added that the State of Israel supports the opening of the Rafah crossing however, will not tolerate the return of Hamas to the area.
There is said to be progress in talks with Hamas, as the organization appears to have dropped a key demand that Israel commit to ending the war permanently as a condition of any deal for the release of hostages. Israel has said that it would not give up its mission of destroying Hamas’s military capabilities and governing power.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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