Israel’s military says Hamas has been destroyed in northern Gaza and that the Jewish state will now focus on its central and southern regions, with the war lasting at least a year.
All 12 battalions of the Palestinian terrorist group operating in northern Gaza have been defeated, Israel Defense Forces Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced over the weekend.
“We have completed the dismantling of Hamas’ military framework in the northern Gaza Strip and we will continue to deepen the achievement,” Hagari said.
He said that while there will continue to be scattered fighting in the north, Hamas has been left “without a framework and without commanders” there.
“We are now focusing on dismantling Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip. “We will do this differently, comprehensively, based on the lessons we have learned from the fighting so far,” he stated.
The official said central and southern Gaza are “dense and saturated with terrorists” using “an underground city of branching tunnels,” according to The Guardian.
Major General Amos Yadlin said: “It will take a year to dismantle Hamas.
Israeli troops patrol Gaza, where some 8,000 Hamas terrorists have reportedly been killed during fighting in the north alone. IDF
“The timeline is long,” he said.
“In 2002, it took two months to reach Palestinian cities and two years to stop terrorism,” Yadlin said, referring to the Israeli offensive in the West Bank after a series of suicide bombings there more than two decades ago. “So Israel waits between nine months and a year [in Gaza now]. It depends on how long Hamas will resist. [on].”
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According to the Financial Times, around 8,000 Hamas militants have been killed in the IDF campaign in northern Gaza alone, with key commanders killed and around 30,000 weapons confiscated.
The announcement marked a major breakthrough in Israel’s campaign to eradicate Hamas and came on the third anniversary of the terrorist group’s deadly sneak attack on Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 Israeli deaths and 240 people taken hostage.
Before the weekend announcement, Israel had already begun reducing its operations in northern Gaza and diverting resources toward offensives in central and southern Gaza.
The Biden administration has been urging Israel to end its ground campaign and rocket attacks against the territory and instead focus on more targeted strikes against Hamas leaders, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained his promises not to deescalate the war until the terrorist group no longer poses any threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, although the IDF’s military objectives are clear (the total destruction of Hamas), its ability to eliminate the anti-Israel sentiment that permeates generations of Gazans will be much more difficult to achieve.
Documents recovered by the IDF during its campaign in the north demonstrated that the Hamas leadership has been using youth summer camps in Gaza to indoctrinate generations against Israel and “promote the culture of resistance and the values of Jihad among children.” “.
Israeli officials say Hamas’s ability to provide a unified fighting force in northern Gaza has been destroyed. IDF
The documents were written by Hamas’ military branch, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in July, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, outlining the true goals of the group’s summer camps. .
The goals mentioned included “promoting resistance and jihadist culture,” encouraging the “spiritual, mental and physical preparation of children to serve the resistance in the future,” and efforts “to contribute to the militarization of society through training.” ” according to the Jerusalem Post. .
Israel’s brutal campaign against Hamas has also left the Palestinian public reeling, with more than 20,000 Palestinians reportedly killed by rocket attacks and ground operations as of the new year.
Among the recent dead was the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh. Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, 27, a photojournalist at the outlet, was killed along with a colleague in a rocket attack on the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday.
More than 30,000 weapons have been recovered from Hamas during the IDF campaign in northern Gaza.
The death toll is also rising among Palestinians in the West Bank, where more than 300 people have been killed since October 7.
According to CNN, at least seven men were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank on Sunday. Although IDF officials said the dead were terrorists, news that four of the victims were brothers sparked outrage among Palestinians and a public funeral procession in the West Bank.
Complicating the increasingly delicate situation are fears that a second front against Hezbollah will open in Lebanon as Israel and the terrorist group continue to exchange rocket fire over their borders.
Some eight rockets fired from inside Lebanon landed in Israel on Sunday, and IDF forces responded.
No casualties were reported on either side, but Israel has repeatedly warned that it is running out of patience with the Lebanese government in stopping the heavily militarized Hezbollah.
Israeli troops patrol part of the extensive network of tunnels that Hamas has used to move through Gaza undetected. fake images
Netanyahu warned in a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Hezbollah needs to “learn what Hamas has already learned…no terrorist is immune,” according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“We are determined to protect our citizens and return northern residents safely to their homes,” Netanyahu said, adding: “We will do it through diplomatic methods and, if not, we will act in other ways.”
U.S. officials have been desperately trying to ease rising tensions on the Lebanese border out of fear that Netanyahu will open a new front to try to secure his political position, according to a Washington Post report.
Diplomats sent to the region have warned Israel that a recent assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that it would be difficult to achieve an IDF victory against Hezbollah with its resources already spread over the Gaza war.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn