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Avi Melamed’s insights quoted in “How Israel plots to wipe out terrorists on Hamas ‘kill list’ with brutal war tactics”, an article by Oli Smith for the Express UK.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and threatened to kill every member of the terrorist group when it carries out its impending ground invasion of Gaza.
Mr Melamed said that the Hamas leaders cannot hide forever, adding: “There is a saying in Israeli intelligence, that there is no man on this planet that can not be reached.”
[..] both Deif and Sinwar were “operating in and taking advantage of a civilian environment and using them as a human shield”.
However, [..] eliminating Sinwar or Deif would not destroy Hamas, explaining: “In the case of Isis, the heads were time and time again eliminated. What we saw was mostly that very quickly somebody else took their place”. […]
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and threatened to kill every member of the terrorist group when it carries out its impending ground invasion of Gaza.
Israel has compiled a kill list of senior Hamas figures who masterminded the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
In the aftermath of the attack, Israel‘s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Hamas terrorists have two options: be killed or surrender unconditionally. There is no third option.”
Hamas military strategist Mohammed Deif and political leader Yahya Sinwar are considered top targets when the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) begins its ground invasion.
Deif is the secretive leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, while Sinwar is the long-time political leader of Hamas in Gaza.
Following the surprise Hamas attack, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht called Sinwar the “face of evil” and declared him a “dead man walking”.
Hamas spokesmen have responded that the group is “not scared” of Israel‘s threats.
It is thought that both Deif and Sinwar are currently living in an extensive network of tunnels built to resist Israel‘s bombing campaign.
Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, told the Telegraph that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad will turn to three approaches to hunt down its targets in Gaza.
Mr Melamed said that the Hamas leaders cannot hide forever, adding: “There is a saying in Israeli intelligence, that there is no man on this planet that can not be reached.”
The three approaches are human intelligence (HUMINT), which includes spies and informants, visual intelligence (VISINT), which includes aerial surveillance, and SIGINT, which means intercepting Hamas’ communications.
Mr Melamed said that both Deif and Sinwar were “operating in and taking advantage of a civilian environment and using them as a human shield”.
There is enduring secrecy surrounding Deif, with only one known full-face photo of the commander which is at least 20 years old.
Deif issued an audio message on the morning of the 7 October attack, saying: “The rage of our people and our nation is exploding.”
However, Melamed noted that eliminating Sinwar or Deif would not destroy Hamas, explaining: “In the case of Isis, the heads were time and time again eliminated. What we saw was mostly that very quickly somebody else took their place”.
Dr H.A. Hellyer, an international security specialist, echoed this, saying: “Sinwar and Deif are clearly first priority leadership, the loss of which would damage Hamas, but one presumes that the group has contingencies about their loss.”
So far, Israel has only managed to eliminate middle to low-ranking Hamas members.
They killed Jehad Mheisen, the head of the Hamas national security forces, in an air strike this week, as well as Ayman Nofal, the commander of Hamas’ central armed division.
Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, killed Rafat Harev Hossein Abu Halal, the head of the Popular Resistance Committees’ (PRC) armed wing.
The PRC is thought to be the third largest terrorist group in Gaza after Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Avi Melamed’s insights quoted in “How Israel plots to wipe out terrorists on Hamas ‘kill list’ with brutal war tactics”, an article by Oli Smith for the Express UK.
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