Yoav Gallant, the nation’s defense minister, announced that Hamas had lost control of the Gaza Strip as the Israel Defense Forces moved forward to seize Gaza City, marking the beginning of the 39th day of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Gallant said that as Israeli forces approach every location, terrorists are fleeing south, according to the Times of Israel.
“No force from Hamas can defeat the IDF. The IDF is moving forward everywhere. The Hamas organization no longer controls Gaza. While terrorists are fleeing south, locals are robbing Hamas bases. As reported by The Times of Israel, Gallant said, “They have no faith in the government.”
During a raid, the army revealed on Monday night that Hamas agents had taken up residence in Gaza City’s Rantisi hospital for children. It asserted to have documentation proving that prisoners were housed there.
“Underneath the hospital, in the basement, we found a Hamas command and control centre, suicide-bomb vests, grenades, AK-47 assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs, and other weapons, computers, money, etc.” According to spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Rear Adm.
At a press conference held in English, Daniel Hagari stated this. After releasing a video of the incident, the military declared that they had eliminated a group of gunmen who had started shooting at soldiers from a different Gaza City hospital.
It gave information about its attempts over the previous few weeks to remove field commanders and impede the terror group’s activities in the Gaza Strip, and it declared that it had killed several Hamas commanders in airstrikes during the course of the previous day.
Members of a terror cell that fired at Israeli forces from Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City on Monday were killed by the Israeli troops. The IDF said that the hospital cell was “embedded within a group of civilians at the entrance” when it started fire on soldiers from the 188th Armoured Brigade, using light weapons and RPGs.
Israel further added by saying that Hamas has command centres under hospitals in Gaza and is using civilians, including patients, as human shields there as the Gaza conflict continues.
With air support, IDF troops returned fire at the Hamas operatives, killing 21 of them, according to The Times of Israel. No troops were hurt, but one tank was damaged by an RPG, the Israel Defence Forces added.
The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages.
Israel has characterised its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas’ infrastructure with the goal of eliminating the entire terror group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
