Israel: 7000 Hamas terrorists already killed – The night at a glance
Published: Sunday, Dec 10th 2023, 05:40
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The Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues in its ninth week with unabated brutality. The Israeli army continued its attacks on Sunday night in the southern city of Chan Junis, which is considered a Hamas stronghold, and in Jabalia in northern Gaza, the Times of Israel reported, citing Palestinian reports. Around 7,000 Hamas terrorists have now been killed, Israel's National Security Advisor Zachi Hanegbi had told Channel 12 the previous evening. Israel is hunting down Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar, who wants Hamas to fight to the bitter end.
Israel: Prisoners report Hamas' loss of reality
Shortly after the war began, Sinwar is said to have set off in an aid convoy to the south of the sealed-off coastal strip, Israeli newspapers reported, citing information from the Kan channel. Israel's army is in the process of publicly conveying the impression that Hamas has begun to waver. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that terrorists and Hamas commanders who had surrendered had stated that their fighters were in a "difficult situation" and that the Hamas leadership under Sinwar was "denying reality". None of these statements can be independently verified.
On Sunday night, a video from the northern Gaza Strip circulated on the internet in which, according to the Times of Israel, a suspected Hamas fighter can be seen. The man emerges from a row of men, who like him are dressed only in their underpants, with his weapon raised, walks past a tank and lays it down in front of an Israeli soldier. The scene shows the men surrendering to Israeli troops, the report said. However, their identities could not initially be independently verified.
In the previous days, Israeli media had already published pictures of dozens of Palestinians in their underpants arrested in the Gaza Strip. Their identity was also initially unclear. It is unclear whether more and more Hamas fighters are actually surrendering and how many people Hamas continues to command in the fight against the Israeli army from the extensive tunnel system under Gaza. Hamas has continued to fire rockets at Israel in recent days.
Israel's army: Backs up to command centers
Meanwhile, Hanegbi said that Israeli units had moved very close to Hamas command centers in Jabalia and Shejaiya. A total defeat of Hamas would also clear the way for the liberation of 138 hostages still held by the Islamists.
Meanwhile, the US State Department is pressing ahead with the sale of almost 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel, bypassing a review process in the US Congress that is normally required for arms sales to other countries. The ministry is invoking an urgency clause in the Arms Export Control Act, according to a statement published on Saturday. The USA had previously vetoed a draft resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire in the UN Security Council.
Humanitarian situation in Gaza increasingly unbearable
Meanwhile, the situation of Palestinian civilians is becoming increasingly unbearable. According to the UN, half of the population in the Gaza Strip is now starving. Children are reportedly drinking seawater due to a lack of clean drinking water. There are cases of diarrhea and other diseases in the emergency shelters. According to its director, the Nasser Hospital in the embattled city of Chan Junis is no longer able to cope with the many victims. "We have lost control," Nahe Abu Taima told the BBC. Hundreds of injured and dead people are arriving at the emergency room.
Egypt election overshadowed by war
The Gaza war is also overshadowing Egypt's presidential election, which begins on Sunday. The incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win the election once again. There are concerns in Egypt that the Sinai Peninsula, which belongs to the country and borders Gaza, could become the starting point for new attacks on Israel if residents of the coastal strip flee there because of the war. At the same time, the government in Cairo fears that a mass exodus could turn into a permanent expulsion.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups on October 7 in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1200 people were killed in the unprecedented attacks. Israel responded with massive air strikes and, since the end of October, a ground offensive in the coastal area, which is roughly the size of the city of Munich.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed has now risen to 17,700. The figures cannot be verified at present, but the UN and other observers point out that the authority's figures have proved to be generally credible in the past.
Houthi rebels continue to threaten
Meanwhile, the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to prevent ships of any nationality from passing through the Red Sea on their way to Israel. In a statement on Saturday evening, they said that only freighters delivering aid to the Gaza Strip would be allowed to pass through. All others would become "legitimate targets of our armed forces". Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and missiles, among other things.
What will be important on Sunday
The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) meets in Geneva to discuss the situation in the territories occupied by Israel. The presidential election begins in Egypt.
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