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Ya’alon: Just 20 per cent of Hamas’s rocket arsenal remains
Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon yesterday said that Hamas has retained just 20 per cent of its estimated rocket and mortar stockpiles following Operation Protective Edge.
Speaking at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, Ya’alon said that 80 per cent of Hamas’s estimated 10,000 rockets and mortars had either been fired or destroyed by Israeli forces during the 50-day conflict. As a result, an estimated 2,000 projectiles remain in Hamas hands. Ya’alon also said that Hamas lost around 40 senior operatives during the operation and that of the Palestinian casualties, “most, to the best of our understanding, were terrorists.”
Assessing the achievements of Operation Protective Edge, Ya’alon said that he hoped it would prove to be an effective warning to Israel’s enemies, saying, “I hope the future will prove that this operation achieved a long period of quiet and deterrence not only in the Gaza Strip, but in the entire region.”
Meanwhile, a poll published by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research indicates that support for Hamas among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza has dropped since the immediate aftermath of this summer’s conflict. Asked who they would vote for in an election, 39 per cent of respondents opted for Hamas in contrast to 46 per cent a month ago. During the same period, support for the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas had risen from 32 to 38 per cent.
In another development regarding Gaza’s future, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the Arabic daily Al-Hayat that Egypt’s diplomatic efforts are focused on ensuring that there will be no return to violence. However, he said that the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip, as requested by Israel, is a subject for Israel-Palestinian peace talks.
Meanwhile yesterday, for the second time within a day, a Palestinian from Gaza infiltrated into Israel. On both occasions, the infiltrator has been swiftly apprehended. One was found in possession of a knife.