Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Israeli cabinet on Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed or wounded 60 percent of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in the nine months of war since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
Gallant said some 14,000 Hamas terrorists had been killed and 20 of the group’s 24 battalions were believed to have been destroyed, with the terrorists continuing to carry out sporadic attacks and their leaders going underground.
Israeli government spokesman David Mensah briefed Gallant on his cabinet, as well as on indirect hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas being conducted through intermediaries in Cairo, Egypt, and Doha, Qatar.
Breitbart News asked Mensah about the IDF’s control of the Egypt-Gaza border, including the Rafah checkpoint and the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, a stretch of border road where Hamas has conducted its smuggling operations.
Mensah said Israeli control of the border is of crucial strategic importance, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed the Egypt-Gaza border with visiting White House Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Brett McGurk.
The Defence Minister’s office released a statement on Wednesday about Gallant’s meeting with McGurk.
On Tuesday evening (July 10, 2024), Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with Brett McGurk, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. The two discussed the importance of seizing the opportunity that has been created to reach an agreement on the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The two discussed the remaining challenges in reaching such an agreement and possible solutions to address them.
The two sides discussed the progress of the Israeli-Egyptian dialogue under the initiative of the United States, which is in line with the plan presented by the defense minister at the start of the war and subsequently discussed between the parties.
Gallant stressed the importance of establishing mechanisms to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and cut off Hamas’ supplies, adding that the State of Israel supports the opening of the Rafah crossing but will not tolerate Hamas returning to the area.
Negotiations with Hamas are said to be progressing. The group appears to have dropped a key demand that Israel promise a permanent end to the war as a condition for the hostages’ release. Israel has said it will not abandon its mission to destroy Hamas’ military and governance.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,The Trump Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
