Israel claimed Friday that it was “almost in full operational control” of northern Gaza – while vowing that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would “meet the barrel of our weapons soon.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it was still fighting the last remaining Hamas terrorist squad in Gaza City, as well as “low-intensity” battles with other units in the northern area of the strip, according to the Times of Israel.
“We are almost in full operational control of the northern” Gaza Strip, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also told his military leaders on Friday that the progress meant they were closing in on the most wanted terrorist Sinwar, 61, who has led Hamas since 2017.
“One thing is clear, Yahya Sinwar is now listening to the IDF [tank treads] above it, Air Force bombs and IDF operations,” Gallant said, according to the newspaper.
“He will also meet the barrel of our weapons soon.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke at a meeting with other officials on Friday. ZUMAPRESS.com
Sinwar is believed to be hiding underground in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently called him “the walking dead” and Israel has dropped leaflets in Gaza offering a $400,000 reward for help finding him, ABC News reported.
On Thursday, the IDF share videos on X troops dismantled a tunnel allegedly used by terrorist groups near the Sinwar camp aide’s house.
During Friday’s meeting, Gallant also presented on the progress of Israel’s retaliatory ground attack on Gaza, which began after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Yahya Sinwar has been the leader of Hamas since 2017. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
He also confirmed that the army is close to completing the “dissolution of the Hamas battalion and the elimination of its underground capabilities” in the north.
“We also operate in the Khan Younis area and the southern Gaza Strip, and we will operate elsewhere in the future,” Gallant concluded.
Sinwar has been described as “the walking dead.” NurPhoto via Getty Images
Also on Friday, the IDF said that fighter jets had completed additional strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to an attack on the Israel-Lebanon border that killed an Israeli soldier earlier in the day, the Times of Israel added.
Israeli forces are operating in Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza. via REUTERS
Several rockets were fired at Menara, in northern Israel, which triggered sirens in the community, the IDF explained.
Mortars were also fired at Metula, which is just over the border.
The attack on the Hezbollah stronghold came just hours after the IDF announced that Sgt. Amit Hod Ziv, 19, was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack in the Shtula area of northern Israel.
Residents of the Bureij refugee camp arrived in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip following an evacuation order on Friday. AFP via Getty Images
Another soldier, who has not been named, was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Both Ziv and the wounded soldier were part of the 71st Battalion of the 188th Armored Brigade, the Times of Israel reported.
On Friday, Gaza’s Hamas-led health ministry claimed that the death toll exceeded 20,000 on Friday, which would amount to almost 1% of the territory’s pre-war population. However, as the region is under terrorist control, it is impossible to confirm the number.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council passed a new resolution calling for speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, but without the original insistence on an “immediate cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas.
The US and Russia abstained from Friday’s vote, which was delayed for several days as diplomats sought to avoid a veto by the US, Israel’s closest ally.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
