Israel Hamas allegedly regaining strength in northern Gaza

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is apparently still a long way from his self-declared "total victory" over the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

According to an Israeli media report, the terrorist organization is regaining strength in places more than eleven months since the start of the war. Especially in the northern section of the sealed-off coastal strip, Hamas is recovering faster than the Israeli armed forces could weaken Hamas' military capabilities, reported the Israeli TV station Kan. There was no official confirmation of this.

One of the government's declared war aims is to end Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip and destroy its military capabilities. At the beginning of the war following the Hamas massacre in Israel on 7 October, Israel's army initially took massive action against the terrorist organization in northern Gaza. In January, Israel's Ministry of Defense declared an end to intensive combat operations against Hamas in northern Gaza. The army then concentrated on destroying the Islamists' last fighting units in the south of the sealed-off coastal strip.

The Israeli army had not advanced into the north of the Gaza Strip for months, the broadcaster reported. Hamas had used this time to regroup there and prepare for the "next phase of the war". This is one of the main reasons for the current increase in Israeli airstrikes on Hamas command and control centers in the northern Gaza Strip, the broadcaster continued.

Israeli army: attack targeted Hamas command center

According to military sources, it was only on Sunday that the Israeli air force attacked the building of a former school in the northern Gaza Strip, where Hamas had set up a command and control center. According to the army, rocket attacks on Israeli targets had been carried out from there in recent weeks.

There was initially no information on possible casualties. Before the attack, measures had been taken to reduce the danger to civilians, the Israeli military said. Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that the army had initially fired a single rocket, apparently with the aim of forcing refugees to leave the building. Just a few days earlier, an attack on a former school building had left many dead. Israel had also referred to this as a Hamas control center.

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had predicted a victory over Hamas within weeks. "Total victory" was supposedly within reach. However, the reality on the battlefield appears to be different.

Hamas has already been decimated militarily, said Defense Minister Joav Galant in May. "But as long as Hamas retains control over civilian life in Gaza, it can rebuild and strengthen itself, so the Israeli army will have to come back and fight in areas where it has already been deployed," Galant said at the time. He called for a political alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza to be created. Netanyahu, on the other hand, had declared that it was pointless to talk about the future administration of the coastal strip before defeating Hamas.

No end to the war in sight

But even after almost a year, there are still no signs of an end to the war. Critics accuse Netanyahu of allowing the sealed-off coastal area to sink into chaos due to the lack of a precise plan to stabilize and administer Gaza. Israeli troops threatened to be drawn into an endless guerrilla war by Hamas. Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi warned months ago of a "Sisyphean task".

But it is not only in the Gaza war that the army is still involved in fighting; Israel's enemies are also exerting pressure on other fronts. Israel should be prepared for "more attacks", warned the military spokesman for the Houthi militia in Yemen on Sunday, shortly after the militia had fired a ballistic missile at Israel. Israel's army announced that the surface-to-surface missile had apparently broken up in the air and fallen in open territory.

Netanyahu: We are in a multi-front war

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a harsh response. "Anyone who attacks us will not escape our fist," said Netanyahu. "We are in a multi-front war against the Iranian axis of evil that wants to destroy us," said Netanyahu. The so-called axis of resistance includes militias allied with Iran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the sirens were wailing again during the night in northern Israel, as the Israeli army announced on Telegram. Just the day before, dozens of rockets had been fired from Lebanon into the north of the country. The Shiite militia Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are said to have been aimed at an Israeli military base. The Israeli army announced that around 40 missiles had been fired at Israel from Lebanon.

Renewed rocket alert in northern Israel

Since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas almost a year ago, there have been almost daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in the border area between the two countries. There have been casualties on both sides. According to its own statements, Hezbollah is acting in solidarity with Hamas. In an attack on 7 October last year, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist organizations killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and took around 250 others hostage in Gaza. The unprecedented massacre triggered the war.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 41,200 since the start of the war. The figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and is almost impossible to verify.

SDA