More and more Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip are laying down their arms – a clear sign to Israeli security forces that the Islamist organization’s fighting spirit is breaking. ‘We are exerting a lot of pressure. I think the fact that they surrender and come out with their hands up shows that their fighting spirit has been broken. This accelerates our successes, after all, we want to make progress quickly,” Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said on Monday during a meeting with Shin Bet domestic intelligence chief Ronen Bar in the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant said the last Hamas strongholds in the northern Gaza Strip were about to fall. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden pledged his continued support for Israel.
Israeli forces are engaged in a bitter urban war with Hamas units in the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city. They suspect that Khan Yunis is the leader of the Islamic organization and of the hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli sources, more and more Hamas fighters have surrendered in recent days. In addition, according to National Security Advisor Zachi Hanegbi, approximately 7,000 Hamas terrorists have been killed so far.
Biden promises further support for Israel
US President Joe Biden assured Israel of further support in the fight against Hamas terrorists. “As I said after the attack (on Oct. 7), my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people … is unwavering,” Biden said Monday evening at a reception for the Jewish Hanukkah holiday at the White House in Washington. The US would support Israel until the country got rid of Hamas. According to the White House, Biden emphasized that the US was working tirelessly to ensure the safe return of the hostages. “And I won’t stop until we get them all home.” He is also working to obtain more “humanitarian aid for innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Minister: Last Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza Strip before autumn
According to the Israeli Defense Minister, the last two strongholds of the Islamist Hamas in the northern part of the Gaza Strip are surrounded by Israeli units. The Hamas command centers in the Jabalia and Shejaiya districts are surrounded and on the verge of collapse, Joav Gallant said on Monday evening, according to Israeli media. “The battalions that were considered invincible and have been preparing to fight us for years are about to be destroyed,” he added.
Israel captures more than 500 Islamist fighters in a month
The Israeli military said it arrested more than 500 members of Islamist terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip last month. 350 of them belonged to Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip before the war, and 120 to the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Jihad, the army leadership said. The military counterintelligence service and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service would subject the detainees to further interrogations.
Israeli army: more than 100 soldiers killed in ground offensive in Gaza
According to the Israeli army, 104 soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Five soldiers were killed in the southern city of Khan Yunis alone on Sunday. They fell victim to a booby trap while advancing against a Hamas terror cell. A total of 432 Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza war. This figure also includes military casualties caused by Hamas’s Islamist massacre at the start of the war. The army’s casualty count also takes into account soldiers killed fighting the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon on Israel’s northern border, as well as victims of accidents in action.
Israel opens a new border crossing for aid shipments to Gaza
Israel opens a new border crossing to transport aid to the suffering civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Trucks transporting goods for Gaza will also be able to use the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the future, the Israeli Cogat authority, which is responsible for contacts with the Palestinians, and the army announced on Monday evening. However, as with the Nitzana crossing used previously, the trucks will not drive directly into the Gaza Strip. Instead, they go via Egypt to the Rafah border crossing. Israel inspects trucks at its border crossings to prevent weapons being smuggled. Water, food, tents and medical supplies can be brought to Gaza.
Just like in the world war: EU representative calls the situation in Gaza apocalyptic
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the situation in the Gaza Strip apocalyptic. The destruction of buildings by the Israeli attacks was equal to or even greater than that in German cities during the Second World War, the Spaniard said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. 60 to 70 percent of the dead were civilians. The number of civilian casualties was unbelievable, he criticized. Borrell also spoke in the evening about 1.9 million people who had to leave their apartments and homes. This corresponds to 85 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip.
What will be important on Tuesday
Following the failure of a ceasefire resolution for the Gaza war in the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly plans to discuss a similar draft on Tuesday. The text of the resolution introduced by Egypt calls, among other things, for a humanitarian ceasefire. A passage is considered very likely. However, the resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not binding, but merely symbolic. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
