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The Israeli army has recovered from the shock of Saturday’s Hamas attack. It has called up 300,000 reservists and deployed them around the Gaza Strip. One of those summoned is Arye Sharuz Shalicar (46), who has lived in Germany for a long time and now works as a government employee in Jerusalem. Since the outbreak of the war, he has been spokesman for the Armed Forces (IDF).
Blick spoke to him via Zoom about the operational plans of the Israeli army, the danger to the hostages and the wish for Switzerland.
Mr. Shalicar, the Israeli army has regained control of the border fence. Will you now invade the Gaza Strip?
Arye Sharuz Shalicar: The border fence is under relative control. There are still several dozen terrorists close to the fence. For obvious reasons, I cannot reveal the future actions of the Israeli army.
Is storming the Gaza Strip even an option?
All options are currently open. And that includes not only attacking the Gaza Strip from the air, but also invading it.
How do you plan to ensure that your actions do not affect the hostages captured by Hamas and the Palestinian civilian population?
It is part of the terrorist organizations’ modus operandi that they use civilians as well as kindergartens, schools, hospitals and mosques as protective shields. This time, Israeli Jewish hostages are also involved. We gathered intelligence in quiet times and are now using a tweezers-like approach to hit terrorist infrastructure targets.
Do you know where the hostages are hidden?
The hostages are being held as human shields deep in the Gaza Strip, but also in terror tunnels. This makes the whole situation a lot more difficult for us, we are aware of that.
Israel has called on Palestinian citizens to leave the Gaza Strip and go to Egypt. How long do you give them before you strike?
In Israel, tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of people have moved inland from the border areas so that the security forces on the front lines can do their work. If we could talk about rational leadership in the Gaza Strip, they would have done the same. But the opposite happens: old people and children are held captive and used as cannon fodder. That is why we continue to call on people who have nothing to do with the war to go to safe places in the Strip or abroad.
Do you allow citizens to enter Israel?
That’s unthinkable right now because we don’t know who would sneak in. We are at war with two terrorist organizations.
Do you want to destroy Hamas?
The terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah will not disappear into thin air overnight. These are enormous terrorist armies with tens of thousands of radical Islamist fighters armed to the teeth who are not afraid to go down in history as martyrs. But we know that ultimately it will be impossible to give these terrorist organizations an edge and bring them to their knees. Each member has been targeted by the Israeli military and their infrastructure is now being removed from the air.
Can Hamas be compared to the Islamist terrorist organization Islamic State?
Until Saturday, I didn’t like making that comparison. But after watching them drive through Israeli cities in pick-up trucks, masked and heavily armed, even kidnapping and killing small children and old women and parading their hostages with solemn cries of Allahu Akbar, the comparison with IS unfortunately comes to mind. very close.
Saturday’s attack came as a surprise. Have the Israeli secret services failed?
If an invasion could be so successful from Hamas’s perspective, it is legitimate to ask this question. But this is not the time for bureaucratic scrutiny. Right now we are in the middle of a war. We keep an eye on the many bodies, injured people and hostages, which makes it difficult to talk about the failure or otherwise of certain services, especially now.
How did the rockets enter Gaza?
Ten years ago, Hamas was dependent on engineers from Iran and elsewhere, but today the terrorists in the Gaza Strip can develop their own missiles and drones. They do this day in and day out. You can’t do anything else.
And who finances this?
A lot of money flows from Qatar and Iran to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Some of the contributions to Palestinian aid from Europe also flow into the pockets of the terrorists and to the terrorist infrastructure.
What do you expect from Iran? Will we continue to supply weapons to Hamas, or will the country itself intervene in the war?
I hope that the mullahs’ regime and Hezbollah will heed Israel’s warnings and not jump on the Hamas terror bandwagon, but keep their weapons quiet. It is in their own interest.
Is the Israeli army supported by soldiers from abroad?
Foreign legionaries have not fought alongside the Israeli army in any war. That will never happen because Israel wants to resolve these conflicts alone.
What other attacks in Israel do you expect?
Hamas propaganda tries to incite Muslim Arabs living in Israel to terrorize. It is quite possible that a fire will still break out here or there. We will keep our eyes open and be prepared.
What can or should Switzerland do?
One of them is solidarity. It is good to know that democratic Western states and their politics and people support us. The other is to ensure that not a single franc ends up in the pockets of the terrorists. How else could a terrorist organization dig such a large tunnel system in a relatively small area and build missiles that they can fire as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem?
When will the situation calm down again?
It could take weeks, if not months. There are no easy days ahead of us.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
