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The obstinance that led to Sinwar’s death
The elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar illustrates the importance of persistence, patience, and the importance of ‘hard and consistent work, and a willingness to pay prices, and not just special operations and isolated successes.’
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s elimination did not happen just by chance, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stressed in a Friday morning response to the IDF announcement.
The elimination “illustrates the true picture of the war, the centers of gravity and its important achievements, and the determination, persistence, and patience which are required throughout,” he wrote.
“We had intelligence information that Sinwar was in the Tel Sultan area. We very much wanted to receive precise intelligence information which would allow us to eliminate him, and when it did not arrive and time began to pass, the feeling was that most of the achievements in southern Gaza had been achieved, and there were those who wanted to give up and pull the IDF out of the Rafah and Tel Sultan areas and move on,” he added. “But there were those who understood that the key words in the war are patience and perseverance.”
“Most of the forces which remained in the Gaza Strip were moved to the important operation in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. But there were those in the Southern Command who insisted on remaining, at the same time, in Tel Sultan as well. And they were right.
“In recent months, the IDF turned over every stone in Tel Sultan, destroying systematically all of the underground infrastructure in the area and forcing Sinwar and his men to come above ground – unfortunately, not before they murdered six of our hostages, who were their human shields, in cold blood.
“Above ground, the IDF closed in on them slowly, turning them into mice who ran from one place to another as more and more structures and neighborhoods were searched and destroyed. Tel Sultan, which was the rich, luxurious neighborhood in Rafah, slowly became a place of ruins. Until the clash which we had waited for for so long came, and this despicable and evil creature was killed by our heroic soldiers.”
Smotrich stressed, “This is an important message. Because we cannot become addicted to success only, to daring operations and special opportunities. The true war is what happens every day, and it has heavy prices but it conquers more and more goals, destroys the enemy and its abilities, and brings us victory.”
Concluding his statement, Smotrich credited Sinwar’s elimination to those in the IDF and in the political echelon who “insisted on continuing the Sisyphean task in Tel Sultan,” and thanked the “commanders and soldiers who have been working for a year already, in daily battles, and searching every home, every shaft, and every tunnel, in order to destroy the enemy and bring our hostages home.”
israel national news