New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS): Jonathan Conricus, the acting spokesperson for Israel Defense Forces (IDF), on Wednesday said that their mission is to dismantle each and every stronghold of Hamas in Gaza, media reports said.

“The mission [inside Gaza] is to engage with Hamas and simply to dismantle each and every Hamas stronghold that is buried underground in bunkers. We are doing that in slow and meticulous order according to plan. Our advances are good and solid. It is a very challenging battlespace to be in. Hamas has prepared the battlefield, unfortunately, very well. It is totally enmeshed with tunnels,” The Guardian reported.

He said that many of them short tactical tunnels that are basically fighting positions which allow Hamas to move from one ally to another.

“To emerge and then submerge and some are longer and deeper and wider. But we are slowly getting to all of them and there are gains achieved each day of the fight,” he said.

He said that the directive is definitely to kill or capture all the leaders of Hamas.

“Those who planned, facilitated, and executed the murderous 7 October massacre in Israel. We’ve said so clearly. All of them are dead men walking,” he said.

He said that it’s only a matter of time inside Gaza and outside of Gaza, until these Hamas leaders will either be captured or killed by Israel, The Guardian reported.