In the heart of Khan Younes, you can see it best: the gap that is being talked about between the studios and the field, between sour living room conversations and reality, has never been sharper, clearer and louder.
Is the war over?
You made them laugh.
Is the IDF faltering? Not even in the right direction. Not enough achievements? Not enough connection to reality.
It's not intentional, nor malice, the logical explanation is that their activity is not seen enough.
Maybe it's the high stimulation threshold that makes us jump from story to story, maybe it's the disasters that hurt us so much compared to the successes that have become commonplace, and maybe it's the IDF's intensive and thorough activity clock compared to the civilian clock that wants everything here and now. In any case, nothing from "Vive" "The end of the war", "failure to achieve goals" or a divisive discourse does not come close to what is happening in Khan Yunis.
Fighters of the paratroopers brigade in Khan Yunis, photo: IDF spokesman
Khan Yunis was the capital of terrorism: dozens of kilometers of tunnels, shafts inside "innocent" houses, battalions of terrorists, hospitals that became headquarters, schools full of incendiary materials, kindergartens that are used as warehouses for weapons and grenades.
A short tour in the heart of Khan Yunis allows you to see how the place has changed.
Khan Yunis is dismantled, finished, destroyed.
Most of the residents fled before the forces arrived.
The enemy in civilian clothes
We join a routine activity of the 101st paratrooper battalion, a tour of what used to be the streets of the city: scanning shops, yards, houses, locating terrorists, shafts and ammunition.
purifying.
"This is a challenging activity. We work in an urban area cell, with buildings with more than 10 stories. We have eliminated quite a few terrorists here, we control the area here," says Majd 101, Lt. Col. Yoav Spector.
"The enemy is moving in civilian clothes, exploiting the population. In the last few days we have hit dozens of terrorists. I don't know what is being said outside, but the achievements are amazing. This generation is being revealed in its glory."
"Now it is the turn of our generation to win, to show that the State of Israel is strong, that no one can defeat us. They run away like rabbits, they hide, they surrender, they cry like little children, they ask for mercy"
On October 7, Lt. Col. Spector left his wife at home, who was nine months pregnant, and went off to fight. He had time to return to give birth, and he also moved the alliance, which was exactly on the day of the start of the maneuver in the Gaza Strip, by a few hours in order to be with his fighters on the way to Gaza. We fight with all our might until we are instructed otherwise.
There is more to do, it is always possible to further deepen the achievements."
Fighters of the paratrooper brigade in Khan Yunis, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
On the way out, they meet the members of the 7421 Reserve Battalion. Roni Alfasi, only 61 years old, from Be'er Sheva, married and the father of four (three of them soldiers), is a type of Idan Amadi plus a few good years, and has a clear message: "We will finish our tasks and win. The era of Hamas is over. The war is not over, there is still a lot of work to be done before we return abductees. Other nations should know not to mess with us."
His fellow battalion members are full of motivation: "Now it's our generation's turn to win, to show that the State of Israel is strong, that no one can defeat us. We are dismantling Hamas, not a single terrorist dares to show his head. They run away like rabbits, they hide, they surrender , they cry like little children, they ask for mercy," says one of the fighters.
The 101st paratrooper battalion in ground operations in the Gaza Strip, photo: Yossi Zeliger
"We need you to believe in us"
"The IDF is winning and will be able to restore security.
The residents of the south will not be afraid anymore.
We need your push.
We believe in ourselves, we need you to believe in us.
Believe in this country and it will flourish.
A strong rear, strong citizens - the army does the job."
One of the things that frustrates the fighters the most is that, according to them, "we don't hear about the work they do."
Their daily routine begins in the early hours of the morning.
They move from house to house, apartment to apartment, yard to yard, floor to floor.
Cleanse, search, eliminate, fight, expose.
Khan Yunis has quite a few towers - office towers and residential towers.
It takes time, it is difficult, complex, long.
But it's a hard and amazing job that the fighters do.
"We have a transistor here and we hear the news from time to time," says a 7421 battalion soldier, "in one of the broadcasts they said something about the Americans, then about something happening in the Knesset, then sports and the weather. Hello? They give a crazy job here.
Fighters of the 101st paratrooper battalion in the Gaza Strip, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
"Maybe there aren't enough pictures, maybe not enough 'normal' work goes out, and only when something unusual happens do you hear about it, but there is amazing work here, people work very hard here." According to him, if there is a feeling outside that the war is faltering, that the war is over - Too bad.
"We are here and we are fighting, they say there is no feeling that the IDF is doing things?
You feel like you're being torn apart, you grind yourself on guard, raids, doing - then you go outside and feel like you're not doing anything here.
Believe us, this is not the case."
And one more thing about Khan Yunis - it is not close to the stories about terrible overcrowding, tents and excrement in the streets.
In the heart of Khan Yunis it is evident that there were main streets, banks, half a shopping mall, "everything in shekel" stores, office buildings, courtyards, hummus, and even a hookah pub designed like in the "Friends" series.
Gazans could live well.
Not far from there is a promenade, beach, hospitals, university, parliament and court.
Despite this, they chose death, terror, hatred.
With their own hands they destroyed a good life for themselves.
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