Tel Aviv claims control of Hamas stronghold in Gaza city

“AThe forces of the 36th Division gained operational control in the Shejaiya neighborhood [na cidade de Gaza]. The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] will continue the occupation of the area and carry out specific operations in the neighborhood according to operational needs”, continued the military spokesperson.

“During the fighting in the neighborhood, the forces came face to face with terrorists who shot, attacked and threw explosives at the division’s forces from buildings in a dense, urbanized space, and eliminated them in intense battles,” reported the Army, by ensuring that its troops attacked hundreds of objectives, blocked dozens of tunnel entrances located in homes, schools and clinics, and seized numerous weapons from Hamas.

The Golani Brigade, an elite infantry squad, searched the homes of leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement, confiscated intelligence material, while other troops occupied the headquarters of the Shejaiya battalion, “from where some of the terrorists who perpetrated the October 7th massacre left. ” which triggered the current conflict, according to the same source.

According to the Israeli Army, the paratroopers also destroyed more than 100 buildings and dozens of tunnels and arrested numerous fighters who surrendered, including the commander of a Hamas company.

Shejaiya was the epicenter on December 12 of one of the deadliest battles for the IDF, with nine soldiers killed in an ambush.

On December 15, also in Shejaiya, three Israeli hostages who had managed to escape Hamas captivity were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops when they asked to be rescued and displayed a white flag, an incident that intensified protests by the families of the 129 hostages who still remain in Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire.

The control of Shejaiya by Israeli troops joins the Rimal neighborhood, also in the city of Gaza, and Jabalia, on the outskirts, confirming Israel’s presence in the north of the Palestinian enclave, at a time when Tel Aviv is trying to apply the same strategy to the south , particularly in the city of Kan Younis, a stronghold of Hamas leaders.

In response, the military branch of Hamas said today that Israel’s objective of eliminating the Palestinian Islamist group, in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, is “doomed to failure.”

In an audio recording, Abu Obaida, the spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, also conditioned the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza on “the end of the aggression”, referring to the war launched against Hamas.

“The objective set by the enemy of eliminating resistance is doomed to failure. It is a reality that has become indisputable,” declared the spokesperson.

Moments after the spokesman’s recording was released, the armed wing of Hamas released a video showing three Israeli hostages alive who, according to the militia, were later killed in Israeli attacks.

The war between Israel and Hamas was triggered after an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli territory on October 7.

In total, 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed that day, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on the latest official Israeli figures. Around 240 civilians and military personnel were kidnapped, with Israel indicating that 127 remain in Gaza. In total, 469 Israeli soldiers have already been killed in this war, of which 137 during the land incursion.

In retaliation, Israel, which promised to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, has been bombing the Gaza Strip since October 7, where, according to the local government led by Hamas, around 20,000 people have been killed and more than 52,000 injured, most of them civilians. most of the infrastructure was destroyed and nearly 1.9 million were forced to abandon their homes, almost the entire population of the enclave.

The population of the Gaza Strip is also faced with an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, due to the collapse of hospitals, the outbreak of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicine and electricity.

Since October 7, more than 280 Palestinians have also been killed by the Israeli Army and by settler attacks in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish State.

Israeli authorities have meanwhile indicated that their Army has lost 134 men since the start of the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on October 27.

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