Israel steps up hunt for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (centre). Here from when VG participated in a press conference with Sinwar in Gaza in 2021. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
It is now being claimed to several media outlets that Israel, with its ground invasion of southern Gaza, aims to liquidate Hamas’ military leaders.
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Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern parts of Gaza, where one of the goals is to liquidate Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa. It is claimed to Reuters that the offensive will not end until these three are either killed or captured. It is assumed that Hamas’ military leaders are still in Gaza, which lieutenant colonel Sigbjørn Halsne considers likely. As a result of a large number of people having fled from northern to southern parts of Gaza, Halsne considers the military operation and the humanitarian situation in southern Gaza as more demanding than in northern Gaza. Show more
After the temporary ceasefire was broken, Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern parts of Gaza. Now the hunt for Yahya Sinwar is being stepped up, claims a high-ranking official opposite The Jerusalemn Post.
He was Sin Hamas‘ leader in Gaza. In addition, Israel is said to be very interested in taking out Hamas’s military leader Mohammed Deif and Deputy Chief Marwan Issa.
Namely, anonymous sources claim opposite Financial Times that one of Israel’s goals in southern Gaza is to kill these three Hamas leaders, while Reuters is informed that Israel’s military offensive will probably not end until these three are either killed or captured.
– If Israel is serious about crushing Hamas militarily, it will be important to kill Deif and Issa because they are the two most important leaders of the al-Qassam brigade, says researcher Erik Skare at the University of Oslo (UiO) to VG.
– There are also many indications that Sinwar is jointly responsible for the attack on 7 October and was one of those who knew about it. It is common for Palestinians who are held responsible for killing Israelis to be liquidated by Israeli intelligence or the military.
Reuters describes that Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, has pictures of militant Palestinians, shaped like a pyramid, hanging on his office wall. As they are killed, their pictures are marked with a cross. At the top of this pyramid hangs a picture of Deif.
POSSIBLE LOCATION: It is claimed that Sinwar and Deif may be staying in the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. This and several other buildings in the city have been razed to the ground as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Photo: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA / Reuters / NTB
Political and military leadership
Opposite Foreign Policy anonymous sources claim that Hamas’ top military leadership is still in Gaza. This is explained by the fact that the negotiations with Hamas’s political leadership, which is outside Gaza, about the release of hostages, stop every time they lose cover in Gaza.
This is also interpreted as Hamas’ military leaders having greater influence over the negotiations than the political leadership.
Israel’s former prime minister, Ehud Olmer, considers that both Sinwar and Deif are probably located in the town of Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, where both were born.
– It is difficult to know where they are, but given the reports that the hostages met Sinwar, there are many indications that he – at least until recently – has been in the tunnel system in Gaza, says researcher Skare.
Place of residence
Lieutenant colonel and head teacher in land power at the Norwegian Armed Forces College, Sigbjørn Halsne, considers it likely that Hamas’ military leaders are still staying in Gaza.
– Hamas’s military leaders, those who were directly involved in the planning of the October 7 attack and who now coordinate the al-Qassam Brigades, are probably still in Gaza. It would have been negative for morale if Hamas’ military leadership had escaped to Qatar, says Halsne to VG.
– What military effect will it have if Israel takes out the Hamas leaders?
– If Israel takes out Hamas’s military leadership, it will be a visible act that will have a positive effect on Israeli public opinion, while at the same time it will have a negative effect on Hamas’s military capability, answers Halsne.
Researcher Skare considers that it will affect Hamas to a small extent.
– It will affect the organization to a small extent given that it is a mass movement and a number of successors have already been prepared who are ready to take over when they are killed and continue the work.
Many civilians in southern Gaza
Around 1,200 people are said to have been killed in Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. In addition, Hamas took a large number of people prisoner. Since then, over 15,000 people on the Palestinian side have been killed as a result of Israel’s bombing and ground invasion of Gaza.
So far, Israel has bombed all of Gaza, but the ground invasion has so far been limited to northern Gaza. As a result, a huge number of people have fled from northern to southern parts of Gaza.
– What do you think that Israel will carry out a ground invasion also in southern Gaza, where a large number of internally displaced persons are located?
– It makes the entire operation and the humanitarian situation even more demanding. The Israeli army will have to ask itself where to move people, as well as ensure sufficient humanitarian aid, says Halsne and continues:
– At the same time, Hamas also bears a certain responsibility for how they carry out their military operations.
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Areas near Egypt
Facing the Financial Times, it is claimed that the tunnel network under the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is considered absolutely vital for Hamas’s ability to build up its forces again.
Halsne does not think it is surprising that Israel is attacking southern Gaza.
– It would have been difficult for them to achieve their three most important goals, release hostages – destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and change the government in Gaza – if they had not done that, says Halsne and continues:
– It is more surprising if the operations in southern Gaza take the same form as the ground invasion of northern Gaza. Both considering the number of internally displaced civilians and the proximity to Egypt’s border, which will create a different dynamic and potentially make the situation more difficult to control.
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Published: 05.12.23 at 08:17
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2023-12-05 07:17:26
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