ATTACKS: Smoke rises from residential areas after Israeli strikes hit Khan Yunis, Gaza on January 6, 2024. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Anadolu
– Hamas’s military structure in northern Gaza has been completely destroyed, says the Israeli military’s (IDF) spokesman, Daniel Hagari, in a statement Saturday night.
Published:
Less than 2 hours ago
Updated just now
Israel claims it has killed 8,000 Hamas fighters in northern Gaza, writes Reuters.
The military has also seized tens of thousands of weapons in that area and millions of documents, Hagari stated during the same online briefing:
tip us
– We are now focusing on defeating Hamas in the center and south of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday that the war against Hamas “must not be stopped” until Israel achieves three main goals: “eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel”, states CNN.
The prime minister’s office also issued a statement that Israel “will not grant Hamas immunity anywhere, and we are fighting to restore security in both the south and the north.”
Almost 23,000 Palestinians killed
The information from the IDF comes on the same day as the news from Reuters that seven Palestinians are said to have been killed in a new airstrike in the Khan Younis refugee camp, south of the Gaza Strip.
Over two million people are trapped inside Gaza as the Israeli bombs continue to fall.
1 / 2
MOURNING: Photo from Khan Yunis, where a relative mourns the loss of a 12-year-old boy who was killed on Saturday. Photo: AA/ABACA / Anadolu Photo: AA/ABACA / Anadolu
previous
in this
MOURNING: Photo from Khan Yunis, where a relative mourns the loss of a 12-year-old boy who was killed on Saturday. Photo: AA/ABACA / Anadolu
In the last 24 hours, 122 people have been killed and 256 injured in Israeli attacks.
In total, at least 22,722 Palestinians must have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, and 7,000 are missing after Israeli attacks, writes NTB on Saturday morning.
The majority of those killed are women and children.
58,166 Palestinians have been injured in the attacks, and many of them are injured for life.
The information comes from the Palestinian health authorities, which are controlled by Hamas. The figures have not been verified by independent sources, but the UN considers the figures to be reliable.
Presented new war plans
The Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presented plans for the next phase of the war in Gaza on Thursday, Reuters writes, among others.
According to Gallant, the Israeli army in northern Gaza will adopt a “new combat strategy” that includes “raids, destruction of tunnels, air and ground operations and special operations”.
In southern Gaza, the Israeli forces will continue the hunt for Hamas leaders in the area “as long as necessary”, according to Gallant.
The forces stationed in the south will also focus on “enabling the release of the hostages” who are still being held captive, he added.
Gallant also gave details of a fourth and allegedly final phase of the war, called “The Day After”.
This phase, according to Gallant, sets up a Gaza ruled by someone other than Hamas, which will no longer “pose a security threat to the citizens of Israel”.
The plan does not provide any details on when or how an Israeli withdrawal will take place.
The US is running diplomacy in high gear
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a week-long trip to reduce the level of tension in the Middle East.
This is the foreign minister’s fourth trip to the region in three months.
Developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put US efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading under severe pressure. Internationally, criticism of Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip is also growing.
DIPLOMAT: Antony Blinken is preparing to meet Turkish representatives in Istanbul on Saturday. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein / AP / NTB
On Saturday, he met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who is a strong critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
In the talks, Blinken emphasized “the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, expand humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties,” a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters.
After the meetings in Istanbul, Blinken traveled on to Crete, where he met Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Gaza war was also a topic there.
Published:
Published: 06.01.24 at 20:12
Updated: 06.01.24 at 22:10
2024-01-06 19:52:30
#Israel #Hamas #military #structure #northern #Gaza #destroyed
