by Sam Halpern
“The first phase is that we are depriving Hamas of one of its most important means: the tunnels," Duhine told N12 News.
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The anti-Hamas Abu Shabab militia in Gaza is nearing completion of its mission to dismantle Hamas tunnels in the Rafah area of Gaza and is gearing up for the second phase of its operations, the group’s leader, Ghassan Duhine, told N12 News on Sunday.
“The first phase is that we are depriving Hamas of one of its most important means: the tunnels," Duhine told the Israeli outlet. "The first phase is about to end.”
Duhine's comments come as the IDF continues to work to destroy Hamas tunnel infrastructure east of Gaza’s Yellow Line. Last year, IDF officials estimated that around 75% of the terror tunnels in the Strip remained intact. In October, Defense Minister Israel Katz told US Vice President JD Vance that over 60% of Gaza’s tunnels remained operational.
Nevertheless, following the Abu Shabab militia’s work in dismantling tunnel infrastructure, the group intends to begin efforts surrounding the “dismantling of weapons production facilities,” Duhine said.
After that, the final phase of the militia’s work pertains to collecting the terrorists’ “personal weapons,” he added. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us. Only pressure works. By choice and without enough pressure, they will not give up their weapons."
Duhine continued, saying the militia, along with the IDF, “have achieved great results” in Rafah because the group is operating as the Israeli military applies pressure to Hamas.
“They only understand the language of force," he asserted. "The language of dialogue with terrorists should be forbidden and boycotted. Hamas is the one who should be afraid of us, because we are sparing no effort to eliminate it. The people in Gaza are with us, even if they say different things."
Abu Shabab begins dismantling Rafah tunnels
Last Thursday, Duhine announced on Facebook that the Abu Shabab militia had begun “gradually dismantling the tunnels,” writing that they were terrorists’ “most important weapons.”
He has previously stated that following the dismantling of weapon production sites, the group would go after the “missiles” in the Strip before pursuing personal weapons.
“In the future, no weapons will enter Rafah outside the framework of the law, and smuggling operations will be dealt with forcefully,” Duhine wrote at the time.
Duhine was appointed to lead the Abu Shabab militia in early December of last year after the previous leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, was killed during a conflict between armed groups in the Strip. Duhine was wounded in the same incident.
This week, IDF statements have noted that troops have continued efforts to clear out and destroy Hamas’s tunnel infrastructure.
On Monday, the military confirmed that during searches of a tunnel shaft, it had successfully killed three terrorists it had struck the week prior.
The following day, the IDF confirmed that during activities to destroy a tunnel near the Yellow Line in southern Gaza, soldiers had uncovered a Hamas weapons cache, including a “large amount of guns, an RPG rocket, and an explosive device.”
Sam Halpern
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-887192
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