The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday said it had completely dismantled Hamas’s “military framework” in the northern Gaza Strip. Addressing a press conference, military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Israel was now focused on dismantling the Palestinian outfit in central and southern Gaza.
Hagari said Israeli forces killed around 8,000 militants in north Gaza. “We are now focused on dismantling Hamas in the centre of and south of the (Gaza) strip,” he said in an online briefing. “Fighting will continue during 2024. We are operating according to a plan to achieve the war’s goals, to dismantle Hamas in the north and south,” he said.
Key quotes from tonight’s (Saturday) briefing by IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, marking three months into the war:“We have completed the dismantling of Hamas’ military framework in the northern Gaza Strip and will continue to deepen the achievement, strengthening… pic.twitter.com/5JrgksEYJT
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 6, 2024
Israel’s bombing and incursions of Gaza began after Hamas militants from the strip attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas. Israel’s offensive, aimed at wiping out Hamas, had killed over 22,000 Palestinians. Palestinian health ministry has said that 70 percent of Gaza’s dead are women and people under 18. The fighting has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, with many homes and civilian infrastructure left in ruins amid acute shortages of food, water and medicine.
On the eve of the three-month mark of the Israel-Hamas war, the IDF also announced 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. Their battalion was responsible for the attacks on Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct 7.
ELIMINATED:Commander of Hamas’ Nuseirat Battalion, Ismail Siraj, and his Deputy Commander, Ahmed Wehbe.During Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7 invasion and massacre, the Nuseirat Battalion was responsible for the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri and other Israeli communities.
The… pic.twitter.com/OzKJH1JNQI
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 6, 2024
Meanwhile, top international diplomats gathered to discuss strategies for keeping the Gaza war from spreading beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were on separate trips to the region to try to quell spillover from war into Lebanon, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Israel and Hezbollah often trade fire across the Lebanese border, and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen seem determined to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping until Israel stops bombarding Palestinians in Gaza. Blinken was in Amman, Jordan, after stops in Turkey and Greece. Borrell was on a Jan. 5-7 trip to Lebanon. Both told reporters their priority was quelling spillover from the fighting.
(With agency inputs)
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