Israel has said that it has completed the dismantlement of Hamas’s 'military framework' in the northern Gaza Strip. The annoucement by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) comes on the eve of the three-month mark of the Israel-Hamas war.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference that the military was now focused on dismantling Hamas in central and southern Gaza. As many as 8,000 militants were killed, thousands of weapons seized and millions of documents destroyed.
Hagari added that the Palestinian militants are now operating in the area only sporadically and "without commanders".
The statement comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday that Israel would continue its campaign to eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel. "We have to put everything aside ... until the complete victory is achieved," Netanyahu said in a statement.
The IDF added that though battles and sporadic rocket fire could still occur in northern Gaza, Hamas's infrastructure was out and it could no longer carry out large-scale attacks. He claimed that towns in central Gaza were "dense and full of terrorists," while Khan Younis in the south has an "underground city of branching tunnels."
"The fighting will continue throughout 2024. We are working according to a plan to achieve the goals of the war: to dismantle Hamas in the center and south, and continue all efforts, intelligence and operational, and military pressure, to return the hostages,” Hagari said.
Mohammed Deif's photograph
The IDF spokesperson also revealed a photo of Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing. The photo was among some 70 million digital files recovered by the IDF in Gaza, Hagari said.
Deif, who is believed to be hiding in Gaza, is see holding a plastic cup in one hand and dollar bills in another. Though it was believed that he was an amputee and nearly paralyzed, the IDF recently confirmed that it was not the case.
Meanwhile, the IDF and Shin Bet also confirmed that the commander of Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion in central Gaza, Ismail Siraj, and his deputy, Ahmed Wahaba, were killed in an airstrike in the Strip. The battalion was responsible for the attacks on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.
