Dramatic footage released Friday showed Israel Defense Forces soldiers facing off against Hamas terrorists inside a school — as the country’s defense minister vowed that the group’s hold in the Gaza Strip is finally “beginning to break.”

Members of the elite LOTAR Unit, along with the 188th Armored Brigadee’s 74th Battalion, encountered a Hamas cell in the remains of a school building in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, the Times of Israel reported. ….

The intense footage was released shortly after Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attended a Hanukkah candle lighting with troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion, the Times of Israel added.

After more than two months of war, Israel is seeing “signs that indicate [Hamas] is beginning to break in Gaza,” Gallant said, according to the outlet.

[At least according to the IDF, more Hamas operatives are surrendering rather than opting for martyrdom. That’s a sign that morale is breaking down significantly, likely because Hamas may not have prepared its rank and file for a true months-long combat war with the IDF. Hamas had counted on Hezbollah and Syria to launch wars in the north, but both have been reticent to do much more than volley missiles — and they’re coming out the worse in those exchanges, too. The flooding of the tunnels will likely crush the remaining morale of Hamas’ low-level operatives. — Ed]