Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on November 16 that the two major airstrikes targeted underground infrastructure of the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip in recent days.
In one of the underground sites, a number of senior Hamas commanders were hiding, including Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of the movement’s northern Gaza brigade, and Ayman Siam, the head of the rocket firing array, Hagari claimed.
In another site, Hagari said senior members of Hamas’s politburo were hiding, including Rawhi Mushtaha, Essam al-Dalis and Sameh al-Siraj.
“Hamas is trying to hide the results of the strike,” he added.
Hagari said that he cannot elaborate further on the strike, but that “it can be said with certainty that the underground where they were was very heavily damaged.”
Separately, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the IDF had located “significant findings” in al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as it moves to the “next phase” of the ground operation.
“The operation continues and it is carried out in a precise, selective, but very, very determined manner,” the minister said during a visit to the 36th Division’s command center.
While Gallant did not elaborate on the findings inside the hospital, the IDF claimed that it uncovered a Hamas tunnel and a pickup truck packed with weapons.
Gallant also confirmed that the IDF completed the capture of the western part of Gaza City and cleared the area of any Hamas fighters and assets.
“The next phase has begun,” Gallant added.
From its side, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said during a visit to Gaza that the military is “close” to eliminating Hamas’s “military system” in the northern part of the Strip.
“We are quite close to destroying the [Hamas] military system that existed in the northern Gaza Strip,” said Halevi to commanders. “We will complete it, we have some finishing to do, but we are getting close to it nicely.”
Overall, it appears that the IDF is preparing to further develop its ground operations in Gaza. The next phase may not be limited to the northern part of the Strip. The IDF has already dropped leaflets calling on civilians to leave the eastern parts of the southern city of Khan Yunis.
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