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Published December 11, 2023, 5:56 p.m. ET
Hamas is nearing its breaking point in the northern Gaza Strip as Israeli forces surround its last two strongholds there and eliminate local commanders, Israel said on Monday.
As CNN reports, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that Israeli forces were “close to dismantling the remaining Palestinian terror strongholds in Jabalya and Shejaiya” following mass surrenders in the area.
“We are close to a breaking point in northern Gaza,” Gallant said. “Anyone who wants to surrender, as hundreds have already done – we will spare their life.”
Gallant's comments come a day after the IDF confirmed the death of Emad Krikae, commander of Hamas' Shejaiya Battalion.
Krikae was the leader believed to be behind anti-tank missile training in Gaza City and was allegedly involved in the October 7 rocket fire and raids against Israel.
The Hamas official's rule was short-lived. He was killed by Israeli forces, as was his predecessor, who was listed last week among dozens of other commanders, including the one in Jabalya, who have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
The death of Emad Krikae, commander of Hamas' Shejaiya Battalion, was confirmed on Monday. IDF
In addition to killing half of Hamas's estimated 24 battalion commanders, the IDF said it also captured 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists last month. About 140 of the men were arrested just over a week ago when the tentative ceasefire agreement collapsed.
The Israeli military noted that some of the activists “were caught hiding in civilian buildings, schools and shelters.”
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The members of the terrorist group have now been transferred to Israeli intelligence and Unit 504 for further questioning, the IDF said.
The details came days after about 100 Palestinian soldiers, many wearing underwear, were caught on video surrendering to the IDF in Jabalya and Shejaiya.
Israeli soldiers confiscated a cache of weapons from a mosque in Jabalya. via Portal
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller described the images of the nearly naked men as “deeply disturbing” during a news conference on Monday, adding that America was investigating why such photos were released in the first place.
Gallant claimed that many of the fighters who surrendered to the IDF lacked food and weapons as large parts of the northern Gaza Strip have struggled with a lack of resources since the war broke out.
The fighting in Jabalya, home to one of the largest refugee camps in northern Gaza, remains very worrying. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, dozens of casualties have been reported in the camp in recent days.
Smoke from airstrikes can be seen coming from a refugee camp full of Palestinians who have fled Khan Younis. AFP via Getty Images Israeli soldiers continue a ground assault in the Gaza Strip that has led to the arrest of more than 500 terrorists. via Portal
As the war continues in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, Israel is also grappling with conflict along its northern border with Lebanon, where it exchanged rocket fire with Hezbollah terrorists on Monday.
“In response to takeoffs from Lebanon toward communities in the western Galilee, IDF warplanes today attacked a Hezbollah military site,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Hezbollah confirmed the attack and that it had suffered “a direct attack” by Israel, but noted that the terror group would continue to fight in support of Gaza.
The group then fired several anti-tank missiles at houses along the Metula River in northern Israel. Hezbollah claimed the bombing was in retaliation for a Lebanese mayor who was killed in an earlier IDF airstrike.
The IDF said it had encircled the remaining Hamas forces in northern Gaza. via Portal
Miller noted that the U.S. is also seeking answers about the fighting in Lebanon after allegations that Israel used white phosphorus rockets in one of the attacks.
Although not banned by international law, the incendiary rockets are strictly regulated and Israel has faced intense criticism after firing such rockets in the densely populated Gaza Strip in 2008.
“Every time we supply items such as white phosphorus or anything else to another military, we do so with the expectation that it will be used for legitimate purposes and in full compliance with humanitarian law and the right to armed conflict,” said Miller.
After the end of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli troops attack armed Hamas fighters in Jabalya. via Portal
As Israel battles Iran-backed terrorist groups, Ukraine's ambassador to the Jewish state claimed that the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war are actually part of a much larger global conflict between good and evil.
“Israel and Ukraine are now at the forefront of the free world war against the axis of evil led by Russia and Iran,” Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk said in a statement after a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Korniychuk urged Netanyahu not to ally with Russia and called Putin a hypocrite for worrying about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
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