DThe war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues into its ninth week with unabated brutality. The Israeli army continued its attacks on Sunday night in the southern city of Khan Yunis, which is considered a Hamas stronghold, and in Jabalia in northern Gaza, the Times of Israel reported, citing Palestinian reports. Israel’s national security adviser Zachi Hanegbi told Channel 12 the evening before that around 7,000 Hamas terrorists had now been killed. The information could not be independently verified.
As Hanegbi continued, the Israeli leadership’s plan was to kill Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar. He wants Hamas to fight to the bitter end.
“But if we kill him, and that is the plan, then the leadership that succeeds him may understand that if they want to avoid his fate, they will have to leave Gaza as a loser,” Hangebi said. A total defeat of Hamas would also clear the way for the liberation of 138 hostages from Islamist violence.
Israel: Prisoners report Hamas’ loss of touch with reality
Shortly after the start of the war, Sinwar is said to have left in an aid convoy to the south of the sealed-off coastal strip, Israeli newspapers reported, citing information from the Kan broadcaster. Israel’s army is in the process of giving the public the impression that Hamas is reeling. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said terrorists and Hamas commanders who surrendered said their fighters were in a “difficult situation” and that the Hamas leadership under Sinwar was “denying reality.” None of this information can be independently verified.
On Sunday night, a video from the northern Gaza Strip circulated on the Internet in which, according to the Times of Israel, a suspected Hamas fighter could be seen. The man emerges from a line of men who, like him, are only wearing their underpants, with his weapon raised, walks past a tank and lays it down in front of an Israeli soldier. The scene shows the men surrendering to Israeli troops, the report said. However, her identity could not initially be independently verified.
In the days before, Israeli media had published pictures of dozens of Palestinians in their underpants arrested in the Gaza Strip. Their identities were also initially unclear. It is unclear whether more and more Hamas fighters will actually surrender and how many people Hamas will continue to command in the fight against the Israeli army from the extensive tunnel system under Gaza. In recent days, Hamas has continued to fire rockets at Israel.
Israel’s army: move towards command centers
Israeli units have moved very close to Hamas command centers in Jabalia and Shejaiya, Hanegbi said. A total defeat of Hamas would also clear the way for the liberation of 138 hostages from Islamist violence.
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