RSS
Israeli Defense Chief: Hamas’s Rafah Brigade Has Been Defeated
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attends a joint press conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 28, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
JNS.org — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared on Wednesday during a visit to the Gaza-Egypt border that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has achieved victory over Hamas’s Rafah brigade.
“I came here first and foremost to express my appreciation [to the soldiers]. The Rafah brigade was defeated by the IDF’s Division 162,” Gallant said at the Philadelphi Corridor, the 8.7-mile-long buffer zone captured by Israeli forces in May.
Since taking control of the area, the IDF has located and destroyed 150 terror tunnels, and Gallant instructed the forces to finish the destruction of the remaining tunnels, which Hamas used to smuggle weapons and materials from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula into the Gaza Strip.
“Out of the 150 tunnels that were destroyed, around 100 tunnels are in fact trenches dug using engineering tools above ground and then covered with a meter or two of dirt,” the minister said.
הבוקר עם המפקדים והלוחמים בציר פילדלפי – חטיבת רפיח הוכרעה והכוחות ממשיכים בהשמדה שיטתית של מנהרות החמאס במרחב.
עלינו לזכור את מטרות המלחמה שהצבנו לעצמנו ולפעול להשיגן – פירוק החמאס והשבת החטופים. pic.twitter.com/IcROXcWxzg
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) August 21, 2024
“I gave an immediate directive to the IDF to destroy the remaining tunnels. It is critical to remember the goals of the war and to achieve them — regarding Hamas, regarding the hostages [held by Hamas], and we also understand why we are looking toward the north,” Gallant continued.
The Rafah brigade and its four battalions — Yabna (south), east Rafah, Tel Sultan (west), and Shaboura (north) — was the terror group’s final functioning brigade, according to Israel military assessments.
Its defeat marks a major milestone in the war that began on Oct. 7 with Hamas’s mass invasion of southern Israel.
The Rafah effort was led by the 162nd Division, under the command of Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen.
IDF troops have killed more than 17,000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed on Aug. 15.
“IDF forces continue to fight in Gaza — maneuvering in Rafah, Khan Yunis, the central Strip and are attacking everywhere,” Hagari told reporters at a briefing. “So far, we have eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists. The significant combat and the ensuing high accomplishments impede Hamas’s ability to raise its head again and rebuild itself, and we are determined to keep this up,” the military spokesman added.
IDF forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27 after weeks of airstrikes in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and abducted more than 250 others to Gaza.
The post Israeli Defense Chief: Hamas’s Rafah Brigade Has Been Defeated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.