The commander of the Gaza Division, Brigadier General Barak Hiram, believes that the end of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is near - and that those who will bring about this end will be the residents of Gaza themselves.
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Brigadier General Hiram is currently traveling between the settlements of the encirclement and talking to the residents. The words he said were recorded during one of the conversations he had.
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The recordings published this evening (Tuesday) on 'Kan News' imply that Hiram estimates that the terrorist organization's mechanisms are gradually collapsing. "The Arabs, their biggest nightmare is that the people will drag them through the streets. I think that the last leader of Hamas, who remains, that we don't have time to kill, the people will take him out and explain to him, like Gaddafi, what they think.".
He added that the operational mechanisms of Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for almost two decades, are close to collapse: "Hamas has been having great difficulty paying salaries to its entire apparatus in recent months. Now, as soon as the apparatus ceases to exist, and people stop reporting for Hamas work, Hamas loses its power and Hamas ceases to exist.".
According to him, victory will be achieved when the organization is left with no basis of control: "The moment we succeed in dismantling enough of the components that make this idea an idea without a basis, without an operating mechanism, we will know that this is our victory. But as the mechanism today, this mechanism is ineffective, does not work, but it still exists enough so that the moment we withdraw and go outside, it can re-form very quickly.".
He also referred to the destruction of the tunnels on the southern border: "We went over Philadelphia, every X, X meters, in such a way that we can say for sure that there are no more tunnels right now, crossing, between Egypt and this. Everything we found was destroyed. Completely destroyed.".
He emphasized that the ability to resume excavations was also limited in terms of engineering: "I can also say with a fairly high degree of probability that there is no one to dig today. Certainly after we removed the population from Khan Yunis and Mawasi, there is no one to dig, and we also now have the ability to know if they are digging, where they are digging. So there is no more underground smuggling between Israel and Egypt, not on the Gaza border, nor in the nearby area. Here, let's say up to Nitzana, we know how to ensure that there are no tunnels.".
Regarding humanitarian aid, Hiram said that every transfer to the Strip must be strictly monitored to prevent smuggling or the production of weapons. "We constantly have to check that things are not being smuggled to us. Hamas is having a very, very hard time producing or smuggling things. In this reality, we must make sure together that, no matter what happens later, the security arrangements that will be established at the end of the war will be such that they will prevent smuggling and production, the internal production capabilities of means, even in the future.".
Referring to the hostages, he said: "I think, we understand that the hostages will be released in an agreement that will come about through pressure. It's not just the heroic operations.".
When asked when Hamas would be defeated, Hiram replied: "I can't guarantee how long it will take. Both the pain and the bloodshed, and the suffering and the hostages are things that we want to see end and quickly, end, that the suffering is over and that we return them.".
