Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening released a statement clarifying two points. One dealt with Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, now that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has surrounded the area in southern Gaza where he was believed to be located.
“Last night I said that our forces could go anywhere in the Gaza Strip,” said Netanyahu. “They are currently surrounding Sinwar’s house. His home is not his castle, and he can flee, but it is only a matter of time until we find him.”
In other words, Sinwar can run, but he cannot hide. His second statement concerned getting the Red Cross to visit the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
“To this end,” he said, “I spoke with the President of the Red Cross again today and I told her to turn to Qatar since it has been proven that they have leverage over Hamas, and demand Red Cross visits with our hostages and, of course, the provision of medicines for them.”
“No international force can be responsible for that,” he stated, before continuing, “We saw what happened to other places where international forces were brought for disarmament purposes.”
Regarding Israel’s security role in a post-war Gaza, Netanyahu told CNN in November that it would be a “over-riding, over-reaching military envelope,” but he did not elaborate.
CNN claimed that the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces announced that the Israeli forces had surrounded the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
IDF chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi stated on Tuesday, “Since the war started, our forces are now encircling the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip. At the same time, we continue to secure our accomplishments in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The IDF had earlier declared that its forces were operating “in the heart” of Khan Younis, the second-biggest city in the area. In an effort to finish its offensive operations against Hamas militants in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli military officials stated on Tuesday that they had “completed the encirclement” of the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, as reported by CNN.The IDF is now in what Halevi described as the “third phase of the ground operations,” though he did not elaborate.
“We have secured many Hamas strongholds in the northern Gaza Strip, and now we are operating against its strongholds in the south,” he stated.
CNN claimed that Halevi said, “We’re making great efforts, in accordance with the government’s decision and the international law,” in answer to a journalist’s inquiry regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Halevi alluded to the aid that is gradually making its way into Gaza.
