Israel should not agree to a cease-fire with Hamas until Israel takes Hamas "out of action," retired Army Gen. Paul E. Vallely tells
Newsmax TV.
"The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] needs to completely disarm Hamas to destroy the tunnels, destroy the rockets, but also to really disorganize and take down the Hamas leadership to make sure that they can't perform in a fashion to conduct future operations against Israel," Vallely told John Bachman Friday on "America's Forum."
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The underground tunnels built by Hamas — with concrete brought to the country as part of humanitarian supplies purportedly to rebuild schools and homes — are far more advanced than those in Vietnam, according to Vallely, and need to be destroyed for the safety of Israelis.
The tunnels actually constitute an underground city protected from aerial attacks where Hamas can conduct operations, said Vallely, who retired in 1993 as deputy commanding general, Pacific Command.
"Now they're more advanced, more firmly built, with cement that was brought into Gaza. ... Basically you can stand now and walk through those tunnels to points of exit underground that would come up within several hundred meters inside Israel," Vallely said.
"So that's why they have to be blown up. It's much more extensive, much more sophisticated, than we [saw] in Vietnam."
Vallely, along with retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, co-authored the book "
Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror."
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