Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul
Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaulpicture used with permission of families

The personal connections formed as a result of the Abraham Accords are what brought about the swift end to Operation Breaking Dawn after less than three days of fighting.

The source explained that between each conflict in Gaza. Israel is constantly improving both the operational performance of the IDF as well the ties between the Ministry of Defense and the authorities in the south, and the ties that were also formed with Egypt, Qatar and the Gulf states after the Abraham Accords resulted in the conclusion of the operation being quick and clean.

The source added that the allocation of the billion dollars for the acquisition of precision armaments and the ability to equip the IDF with a large amount of Iron Dome interceptors made an important contribution to the operation.

"The IDF has demonstrated impressive offensive and defensive intelligence capabilities," added the defense official, "the IDF is required to face much more complex challenges on a much larger scale, but what was demonstrated here was successful. This is the result of more than a year of work under the leadership of Defense Minister Benny Gantz. There was a lot of work over time that gave legitimacy to the Israel Defense Forces to act and this was very prominent in the issue of the closure mechanism [to end the fighting]. We remember other operations, here the closure mechanism was based on building and strengthening very close ties. The involvement of the Minister of Defense is personal and intimate in the closure mechanism."

He noted that the issue of the entry of workers from the Gaza Strip into Israel was a factor in Hamas' decision not to intervene in the fighting. "We will act based on [Hamas'] conduct," said the official, "if it is possible to open, we will open more."

"There is potential here to continue preserving and establishing peace and stability, and also to make progress in solving the issue of the captives and the missing persons. This issue of the sticks and carrots and the economic well-being of the residents of Gaza alongside deterrence can preserve peace and contribute to the issue of the captives and the missing," the source said.

Hamas has been holding the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul