IDF still waiting to learn Deif's fate, senior commander says
Air Force instructed to prepare for drawn out fighting, increases attacks on mortar launchers after death of 4-year-old, injury of 3 Israeli Arabs.
The IDF was still waiting for intelligence that would tell them whether or not the attempt on Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif's life was successful, a senior IAF official said Sunday.
"We hope Army Intelligence slowly but surely brings the information we're waiting for," the official said.
"We're focusing on the defensive effort, finding and gathering intelligence, and on the offensive against senior (Hamas) officials. We're continuing to narrow down the search for officials," he said, adding he believes the army will get to more high-ranked terrorist leaders.
The senior official said the Air Force has been instructed to prepare for drawn out fighting, and said the IAF's has taken a more aggressive approach against mortar launchers in recent days, as mortar shells continue to claim victims.
On Friday, 4-year-old Daniel Tregerman was killed from a mortar hit. Residents of the Gaza border communities often get no more than 15 seconds - and at times much less - of warning before a mortar strike, and the toddler did not have time to run for shelter.
On Sunday, a mortar attack at the Erez border crossing wounded three Israel Arabs, two of them seriously.
The IAF official said the army viewed mortars as the main threat currently, used by Hamas to pressure Israel to concede to their demands for ceasefire.
"Hamas is mostly firing mortars at the Gaza border communities and less medium- and long-range rockets, which is why we're trying, from the air, to reduce rocket fire and improve the deterrence," he said.
"We've improved the locations of our radars to provide better coverage and identification of mortars by making the most of all of the sensors that have the longest warning time possible," the IAF official added, noting that "the improvements we've made add several seconds, but every second can save a life."
On Saturday and Sunday, the IAF has leveled two multi-story buildings in Gaza, one of them being the Hamas Interior Ministry and another serving as command and control center for Hamas.
"The terror infrastructure we avoided at first, we can now strike without fear, (while) knocking-on-the-roof, and the results are good because we hit structures without harming a lot of uninvolved," the IAF official said.
