For the first time since the start of the conflict in the Gaza Strip on October 7, franceinfo was able to travel to the Palestinian enclave under escort from the Israeli army.
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Is the Gaza war over in the north of the enclave ? This is what the statement by Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari suggests. Three months after the start of the conflict, he claims that the troops of the Jewish state have completed the dismantling of Hamas’ military structure. For the first time since the start of the war, Sunday 7 January, franceinfo was able to enter the Gaza Strip, north of the enclave, under Israeli escort. The army presented to journalists from the international press what is today the largest neutralized Hamas tunnel.
The entrance to the tunnel lies at the bottom of a large excavation dug in ocher and loose earth, only 400 meters from Israeli territory, from the Erez border post and the imposing security barrier deemed unsinkable until October 7. “There, this is one of the entrances, it is not the only one, shows Colonel Olivier Rafowicz. This tunnel goes down to 50 meters deep.” He specifies that the steel and concrete structure on about 4 kilometers long. “All these tunnels have ventilation and have a lighting and ventilation system on several floors”explains the spokesperson for the Israeli army.
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A real “war against tunnels”
Olivier Rafowicz is escorted by three soldiers of the Yahalom unit, responsible for unearthing underground Hamas militiamen. “This war against tunnels is unique in its gender. Today IThere is no equivalent of this war against terrorism with this type and especially with this number of tunnels. We thought we would find several hundred kilometers, but in fact we are several thousand away, always with the anxiety, the possibility, that terrorists will come out from another mouth. The war is far from over. There are a thousand other tunnels like this one. It’s a real danger, a real threat.”he assures.
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This tunnel is still considered a concrete threat: the Israeli army suspects Hamas of having used it three months ago to attack the Erez border post. This attack stunned the country who did not imagine before October 7 that Hamas militiamen could enter in this ultra-protected complex. “There was some serious fighting heresayse Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht. Three soldiers were kidnapped and three others were killed. It took us a while to regain control and it was trashed.”
Since the Hamas attack, the Erez border post remained frozen. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht shows the entrance gatehouse riddled with bullet holes, puis one of the surveillance turrets equipped with cameras, motion detectors and automatic weapons. Its upper part is completely destroyed. He describes : “You see this position called “See and shoot”, which means : “See and shoot”. This is an automatic rifle controlled remotely from an operations center. When the assault started, they sent in drones, dropped explosives on that position and destroyed it.”
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The war continues in the center and south of the Gaza Strip
Today, no more civilians pass obviously by Erez. The old border post became an army base Israeli d‘where Merkeva tanks leave, troop transport vehicles and bulldozers to go fight Hamas and continue to neutralizehe tunnels. Because the fighting continues in Gaza, even if in the north of the enclave, everything is apparently very calm: phave automatic weapons fire, only the echoes very distant from explosions barely noticeable with the incessant noise Israeli bulldozers who level the land.
And yet, “L“The war is not over in the Gaza Strip.”hammers Colonel Olivier Rafowicz. Meven if, in the background, the destroyed town of Beit Lahiya is completely empty, that the threat seems distant and that five combat brigades have been demobilized in recent days. “The northern Gaza Strip has been cleared, largely dealt with at the level of Hamas’s security infrastructureexplains Colonel Olivier Rafowicz. But we are in a war zone, so there is always the possibility that there will be terrorist threats from Hamas. An extremely intense war effort continues as we speak in the central and southern Gaza Strip.”
Hamas must lay down its arms, free the hostages, and then we can say that this war can stop, which is not the case for the moment.
Colonel Olivier Rafowicz, spokesperson for the Israeli armyfranceinfo
This observation does not prevent the projections, notably at the highest level of the State. Israel is governed by the right and the extreme right and the most radical elements of the executive campaign to forcibly relocate the Palestinian civilian populations, then impose recolonization of the enclave. For Tal Heinrich, government spokesperson, it is absolutely not No way. “People in Israel can give their opinion, that doesn’t mean we all have to agreeshe believes. But what we are saying, and I speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, is that we do not want to reoccupy Gaza. The only thing we want is to make sure that Gaza is demilitarized. Because we know what it means to have a terrorist platform in Gaza. And this must never happen again.”
This position should reassure the American secretary of state Anthony Blinken on the move for the fourth time in the region since the 7 october. Ireaffirmed again, Sunday evening, that the displaced Palestinians should be able to return home as soon as possible.