After days of fierce warfare that included more than 200 airstrikes, Israeli troops destroyed more than 10 km of tunnels in the Jabalia area of north Gaza, the military announced on Friday.
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What is Israel’s Next Move?
An Israeli security official stated on Friday that Israel will not consent to any ceasefire that does not include the release of the other hostages.. As long as the Israelis put an end to the conflict, Hamas had stated on Thursday that it would be prepared for a deal that included exchanging hostages for Palestinian inmates detained in Israel. The Israeli military stated in a statement that after more than two weeks of intense battle in Jabalia, the troops had finished their mission and were withdrawing to make way for further operations in Gaza.
Hamas converted the “civilian area into a fortified combat compound” in Jabalia, a densely populated urban sector inhabited by refugees and their descendants from the 1948 conflict that led to the creation of Israel, according to an Israeli military statement. It claimed that Israeli forces destroyed primed rocket launchers, took control of substantial weapon depots, and killed hundreds of militants in close-quarters fighting.
All That Has Gone Down in Gaza
Seven of the 250 hostages that Hamas-led militants kidnapped when they broke over the border into Israel on October 7 of last year and killed almost 1,200 people were found dead during the operation, according to Israeli statistics.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 36,284 Palestinians in its air and land conflict in Gaza, according to an update released by the health ministry on Friday. A large portion of the heavily populated enclave is in ruins.
According to the report, Israeli forces killed the district battalion commander of Hamas and destroyed a network of weapons-filled tunnels that spanned more than 10 km underground.
Weeks of fierce fighting have severely damaged Jabalia, highlighting Israel’s challenges in eliminating Hamas forces. There had been fierce fighting in Jabalia for weeks before to the Israeli invasion. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced in January that it had eliminated all of the Hamas leaders and the fighting divisions of Gaza’s governing organisation in the area.
With Hamas’s strong ties to Gaza’s social fabric, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to destroy the Islamist organisation as a political and military entity has met resistance. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel on Wednesday to create a post-war plan for Gaza, warning that without one, military victories in the future could not be sustainable and that chaos, anarchy, and the return of Hamas might ensue.
Jordan’s Attempt at Reconciliation
The 2.3 million people living in Gaza have become more malnourished as a result of the prolonged conflict and widespread destruction of the country’s infrastructure. The United Nations has issued a famine warning as a result of the slowing relief supplies.
In cooperation with Egypt and the UN, Jordan will organise an urgent international summit on June 11 to discuss the humanitarian response to the conflict, the royal palace of Amman announced on Friday.
