The Israel Air Force has destroyed more terrorist targets in Gaza over the past 36 hours than it did throughout the whole of the 2012 clash with Hamas, a senior security said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, he added, seven Iron Dome batteries deployed throughout Israel have blocked 90 percent of all incoming rockets that were headed to populated areas, with six rockets falling in built up areas since Monday.
The air force fired 400 tons of explosives at targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups, he said.
"Hamas has been surprised by Israel's response. We systematically struck operational infrastructure, where Hamas commanders operate. In the past 36 hours we destroyed more than what was destroyed during all of Operation Pillar of Defense, and many targets were areas where senior Hamas commanders operate," the source stated.
"There's not a single Hamas brigade commander that has a home to go back to," said the source.
The current offensive against Hamas is being led by the air force, the IDF Southern Command, and the Shin Bet intelligence agency, which are working in synergy, the source said.
"We are mainly working with the "knock on the roof" approach [in which homes used by terrorists receive calls from the army to warn civilians to leave, before they are bombed]," he said.
Referring to the bombing of a home of a senior Islamic Jihad member, in which he and his family members were killed in south Gaza on Tuesday, the source said the family had been warned to leave, but after exiting the home, they returned just before the missile landed.
"We had an error with the family in Khan Younis. They were told to leave, they returned, and the missile was already on the way. It was too late," the source said.
Addressing the air force's ongoing efforts to strike Hamas's long-range rocket arsenal, the source stated, "We are attacking what we know about, and are attacking where we can operate. We won't attack a hospital that has long-range rockets in it." The air force is not hitting the location of long-range projectiles either because intelligence has not revealed the location of the targets, or because the civilian casualty rate would be too high, the source said.
"We don't know everything. What we do know about, we attack. We are trying to work accurately, and not strike needlessly," he added.
Nevertheless, he continued, "The damage in Gaza is growing. It's increasing in scope, surpassing Operation Pillar of Defense. We will never get to the last rocket. [But] we will erode their capabilities." The conflict will end when Hamas concludes that clashing with Israel "isn't serving it," the source said, and finds that it is paying too high a price. Then, Hamas may "search for a mediator." But Israel is still in its first phase of air strikes, the source warned. Looking ahead, the possibility of a ground offensive looms on the horizon, the source stated.
"We have the best of all tools from the air, but we also have relevant ground maneuver tools. If the aerial firepower doesn't work, we'll move to the ground phase," he said.
"This won't end militarily, this is a military effort combined with a diplomatic effort. We have to create conditions for a diplomatic success. We are trying to limit threat while thinking about what will hurt them the most," he added.
The source advised against believing that the IDF will destroy every last rocket in the Gaza Strip, and said, "Within six months they'll have them again. Deterrence is central, so that next time, they think twice before attacking." Addressing air defenses, the source revealed that the seventh Iron Dome battery was swiftly rolled off the production line so that it could become operational. He said Hamas has so far fired a low number of rockets with a range of over ten kilometers, compared to previous conflicts. A total of some 200 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Monday evening.
Iron Dome has increased its capabilities, and has become a bigger and more effective air defense system, he said.
Ben Gurion International Airport is operating on a lower than normal level, with 70% of its usual take offs and landings occurring during the day, he said.
In recent days, Hamas fired shoulder-held anti-aircraft missiles at the IAF, but this came as no surprise, the source added. "We know how to deal with this threat," he said.
Ultimately, the source argued, the goal should be to hit Hamas hard enough to deter it from firing rockets, but not to invade Gaza and topple the Hamas regime, which would be detrimental to Israel's strategic interests.
"Hamas developed new tactics over the past two years. It managed to smuggle long-range rockets into Gaza. Even though we have the military ability to take this to the end, it's better to hit hard, and not destroy the last rocket. We can conquer all of Gaza. But what happens the day after? What do we leave there? Who will be in power there?" the source asked.
"We have to deliver blows in a way that it will improve our condition," he added.
Turning his sights to Lebanon, the source said that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah "hasn't finished rebuilding Lebanon [since its conflict with Israel in 2006]. Nasrallah didn't join in during Cast Lead [Gaza operation in 2009] or Pillar of Defense [anti-Hamas operation in 2012], and I don't expect him to join this conflict, because Lebanon still hasn't recovered, and they see the level of the bombs we are dropping."