In the central and southern Gaza Strip, “we will do things differently” than in the north, Hagari announced, without giving details. “The refugee camps in the center of the Gaza Strip are overcrowded and full of terrorists,” he said. Chan Yunis in the south has an “underground city made up of multiple branching tunnels. This takes time; there are no shortcuts in the fight against terrorism.”
Hundreds of fighters from the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7th, killing 1,140 people and kidnapping 250 hostages, most of them civilians, into the Gaza Strip. Israel then declared war on Hamas and has since carried out massive attacks in the Gaza Strip, where, according to Hamas information that cannot be independently verified, more than 22,700 people have been killed so far.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday that his government had ordered the army to “eliminate Hamas,” return all hostages and ensure that the Gaza Strip “never again poses a threat to Israel.” He declared: “The war must not end until we have achieved all objectives.”
