"The Israeli officer spoke clearly. He was not in the heat of combat. He explained in calm, calculated detail what had been done to the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, once home to 65,000 people—and what would continue to be done.
“Beit Hanoun is completely destroyed,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but the destruction is total. And we will continue working there until it is completely destroyed.”
On July 14, 2025, Israel’s public broadcasting channel, Kan Reshet Bet, aired a Hebrew-language radio interview with an “anonymous” Israeli lieutenant colonel identified only by his first initial—“A.”—and by his unit, the 646th Brigade, which is currently operating in northern Gaza.
The destruction of Beit Hanoun—located on the northeastern edge of Gaza, close to the Erez crossing—is publicly and proudly touted by Israeli military authorities. Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz shared an aerial photo showing the crushed ruins of Beit Hanoun, and declared that its fate will be the same as that of Rafah, the southern city the IDF is in the process of grinding into fine dust.
Last week, Col. Netanel Shamaka, the commander of the Givati Infantry Brigade, took reporters to visit Beit Hanoun to show the military's work there. “I believe that within a week we can finish, and what I mean by finish is that there are no more tunnels,” said Col. Netanel Shamaka said. “The mission isn’t to destroy buildings for the sake of it; the mission is to destroy Hamas infrastructure… Maybe 10 buildings will remain standing, which belong to civilians and there are no tunnel entrances in their homes.”
Haaretz military correspondent Yaniv Kubovich, who joined the tour, reported that as Shamaka spoke, “two officers standing nearby used their radios. Trying not to draw the journalists’ attention, instructed field units to fire so there would be ‘some gunfire in the background for the video footage.’”"
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/senior-israeli-commanders-openly
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