Israel claimed Friday that it has “almost full operational control” of northern Gaza, while promising that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “will soon find the barrels of our guns.”
The Israel Defense Forces said they were still fighting the last remaining Hamas terror squad in Gaza City, as well as in “lower intensity” battles with other units in the northern regions of the strip, according to the Times of Israel.
“We have almost full operational control in the north” of the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also told his military leaders on Friday that the progress means they are closing in on the most wanted terrorist, Sinwar, 61, who has led Hamas since 2017.
“One thing is clear: Yahya Sinwar now listens to the IDF [tank treads] above him, Air Force bombs and IDF operations,” Gallant said, according to the newspaper.
“Soon you will also face the barrels of our guns.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke at a meeting with other officials on Friday. ZUMAPRESS.com
Sinwar is believed to be hiding underground in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently called him a “dead man walking” and Israel has dropped leaflets in Gaza offering $400,000 rewards for help reaching him, ABC News reported.
On Thursday, the IDF shared a video on X of troops discovering a tunnel allegedly used by the terrorist group near the house of Sinwar’s aide-de-camp.
During Friday’s meeting, Gallant also outlined the progress of Israel’s retaliatory ground attack on Gaza, which began after Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7.
Yahya Sinwar has been the head of Hamas since 2017. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
He also confirmed that the army is close to completing its “dismantling of Hamas battalions and the elimination of its clandestine capabilities” in the north.
“We are also operating in the Khan Younis area and the southern Gaza Strip, and will operate in other locations in the future,” Gallant concluded.
Sinwar has been described as a “dead man walking.” NurPhoto via Getty Images
Also on Friday, the IDF said fighter jets had completed additional strikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to attacks on the Israel-Lebanon border that killed an Israeli soldier earlier in the day, the Times added. of Israel.
The Israeli army operates in Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza. Via REUTERS
Several rockets were launched in Menara, northern Israel, setting off sirens in the community, the IDF explained.
Mortars were also fired at Metula, which is just across the border.
The attacks on Hezbollah properties came just hours after the IDF announced that Sgt. Amit Hod Ziv, 19, was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack in the Shtula area of northern Israel.
Residents of the Bureij refugee camp arrive in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip following an evacuation order issued on Friday. AFP via Getty Images
Another soldier, whose name has not been identified, was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Both Ziv and the wounded soldier were part of the 71st Battalion of the 188th Armored Brigade, the Times of Israel reported.
On Friday, the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry claimed that the death toll exceeded 20,000 on Friday, which would be equivalent to almost 1% of the territory’s pre-war population. However, because the region is under terrorist control, it is impossible to corroborate the figures.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council approved a new resolution calling for speeding up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, but without the original insistence on an “urgent suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas.
The United States and Russia abstained from Friday’s vote, which was delayed for days as diplomats tried to avoid a veto from the United States, Israel’s closest ally.
With post cables
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn