Hamas terrorists are “losing their control of Gaza in the face of the Israel Defense Forces attack,” a senior IDF spokesman told the Mail today.
Civil disobedience, looting and unprecedented criticism of Hamas on social media show that Hamas’ control in Gaza is slipping, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, the IDF’s international spokesman, said in an exclusive briefing.
“In our assessment, their command functions and their ability to effectively conduct military operations while controlling the population are in question,” he said.
“And their ability to do that is limited – they are not completely defeated.” They still have some control and influence, but that is far from what they would like and a big difference from what there was a month ago .”
He said in addition to the riots and looting, “Public discontent is showing up on social media, where people are expressing their feelings toward Hamas about how disappointed it is and how challenged it is.”
IDF soldiers walk past houses destroyed October 7 when Hamas attacked this kibbutz near the Gaza Strip border in Kfar Aza on November 12, 2023
A month after the October 7 Hamas attacks, the country’s military has continued its sustained bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Pictured: November 12, 2023 in Kfar Aza
Pictured: IDF soldiers in Kfar Aza, November 12, 2023
“From what they say, it feels as if they are being abandoned by Hamas and civilians are being left to suffer the horrors of fighting while Hamas has advanced into the bunkers and tunnels.
“But when it comes to control, our troop presence on the ground and the progress we have made in the heart of Gaza City call into question Hamas’s ability to control and exercise power.”
“Our goal is to impair their ability to conduct combat operations and maintain themselves.” We do this by attacking their strongholds and infrastructure wherever they are.
“We demolished more than 15 Hamas company and battalion strongholds.”
He denied that the IDF had attacked hospitals, even Al Shifa, which the Israelis say is located above Hamas’s massive main command and control bunker.
He said Israel told the hospital’s manager and senior staff that they could evacuate to the east of the facility and denied laying siege to Al Shifa.
He added: “But we have troops nearby and of course we are putting pressure on Hamas fighters.”‘
Asked about an Israeli offer to move up to 40 babies to safety in a neonatal unit, he said: “It is a complicated medical maneuver to transport babies in this way, even in peacetime, but we understand the sensitivity.”
“We want these babies and other non-combatants to be spared and not affected by the fighting. We hope we can do that and that’s what we’re working on now.”
Lt. Col. Conricus’ words came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was “doing everything in its power” to keep civilians in hospitals.
He said the terrorist group was deliberately trying to “put them in danger,” adding that an Israeli offer to supply the hospital with fuel was rejected by the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israeli soldiers and volunteers from the Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish emergency team Zaka search the rubble at Kibbutz Beeri
Israeli soldiers and volunteers from the Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish emergency team Zaka search the rubble at Kibbutz Beeri
But Melanie Ward, executive director of the group Medical Aid for Palestinians, questioned how the evacuation of babies from Al Shifa could be carried out safely.
“Transferring critically ill newborns is a complex and technical process,” Ward said.
“Given that ambulances cannot reach the hospital … and there is no hospital with the capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely.”
For days, Al-Shifa officials have said dozens of bodies were left near the hospital and in its courtyard.
Al Shifa and another major organization, Al-Quds, announced they were ceasing operations. More people are being killed and injured every day, but there are fewer and fewer places for the injured to go.
A plastic surgeon at Shifa Hospital said the bombing of the building housing the incubators forced them to place premature babies on regular beds and use the little energy available to turn the air conditioning on to heat.
“We know this is very risky,” said Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati. “We expect to lose more of it every day.”
Palestinian officials said Friday that 11,078 Gazans have been killed by air and artillery strikes since then, about 40% of them children.
Pictured: Kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza on November 12, 2023
Pictured: Israeli soldiers and volunteers from the Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Emergency Response Team Zaka on November 12, 2023
International aid groups say the disease is spreading among evacuees crammed into schools and other shelters, living on tiny amounts of food and water.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said 13 people were killed yesterday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza
Residents also reported increased fighting around the Al-Shati refugee camp on the northern Gaza Strip coast. The IDF said it had killed several militants there and urged civilians to use a four-hour lull to evacuate south.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, stepped up its attacks on northern Israel, firing anti-tank missiles at electricity workers and wounding several of them, one critically, Israel said. The attack followed an exchange of blows between the IDF and Hezbollah, with the Israelis firing artillery and launching airstrikes while the terrorists fired rockets and mortars.
The escalation followed a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over the weekend in which he threatened to increase the number and strength of weapons directed against Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened Hezbollah, saying: “What we can do in Gaza, we can do in Beirut.”
Five US soldiers were killed in the eastern Mediterranean when a routine aerial refueling exercise went wrong, the Pentagon said last night.