Since resuming fighting in the Gaza Strip in March, the IDF says it has eliminated over 2,100 terror operatives, including many senior Hamas commanders and other leaders in the terror group, APA reports citing Times of Israel.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 10,576 Palestinians have been killed in that time, without differentiating between combatants and civilians. Neither figure can be independently verified.
Over 10,000 terror targets were struck by Israeli Air Force fighter jets, helicopters and drones, as well as Navy vessels, since March 18, the military says.
The IDF says it has “operational control” over 75% of the Strip’s territory, which was achieved during the army’s latest offensive.
“The operational control in the area enabled the IDF to significantly expand its activity, thereby causing blows to the capabilities and terror infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization and disrupting its chain of command,” the military says.
The most significant strike carried out since March was the elimination of Mohammed Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza and brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel killed last year; Muhammad Shabana, commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade; and Mahdi Quara, commander of the South Khan Younis Battalion.
The three, along with other operatives, were killed on May 13 while hiding in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
The IDF says it has also killed several Hamas government leaders, internal security officers, six top commanders in the terror group’s naval commando forces, and dozens of terrorists who invaded Israel during its October 7, 2023, onslaught.
According to the IDF, its offensive against Hamas in recent months “led to a blow to the combat and command capabilities of the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip” and “created favorable operational conditions for intensifying the pressure on the Hamas terror organization and causing blows to its remaining capabilities.”
“These achievements constitute the basis for the next moves of the IDF in the Gaza Strip,” the military says, referring to the upcoming offensive in Gaza City.
