Hagari: IDF completes dismantling of Hamas military base in northern Gaza Strip

The Israeli Defense Forces announced the completion of the "dismantling of the military structure" of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. It took the IDF about three months to do this.

This was announced during a press conference by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari. He also showed a photo of the commander of Hamas's military wing, who denied the information about him that had been reported earlier. The Times of Israel writes about it.

Hagari emphasized that it took the Israeli military three months to destroy the Hamas military structure in the northern Gaza Strip.

"There are no shortcuts when it comes to fighting terrorism... We have completed the dismantling of the Hamas military structure in the northern part of the Strip, and we will continue to deepen the achievements, strengthen the barrier and the defense on the border," Hagari emphasized.

Militants in the northern Gaza Strip will now be unable to launch new large-scale attacks, an IDF spokesman said. However, he acknowledged that sporadic rocket attacks could continue from the area.

"We have struck, and we will continue to strike, and we will continue to deepen the gains in these areas, but it will take time," Hagari emphasized.

Currently, the key task facing the Israeli military is to eliminate Hamas in the center and south of the Gaza Strip.

"We will do it in a different way, carefully, based on the lessons we have learned from the fighting so far," the IDF spokesman said.

According to Hagari, the refugee camps in central Gaza are "dense and full of terrorists," and Khan Younis (a city in the south of the enclave) has an "underground city of extensive tunnels." Therefore, the spokesperson warned, there should be no hope for a quick end to the war.

"It will take time, the fighting will continue through 2024. We are working according to the plan to achieve the goals of the war: to destroy Hamas in the center and south and to continue all efforts, intelligence, operational and military pressure, to return the hostages," Haghari said.

He added that in parallel, the IDF is building new defenses along the border with Gaza to allow residents displaced after October 7 to return to their homes.

In addition, during the press conference, Hagari showed a photo of the commander of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif. He was found by the army among 70 million digital files seized in the northern Gaza Strip.

The importance of this photo lies in the fact that it refutes the previously widespread belief that Deif has amputated limbs and is almost paralyzed: in the photo, which was taken at an unknown date, the militant holds a plastic cup in one hand and dollars in the other.

Earlier, on January 6, the IDF announced the elimination of the commanders of the Hamas battalion that committed the massacre during the October 7 attack. In particular, terrorists from this battalion killed and kidnapped people from Kibbutz Be'eri.

It was also reported that the head of an IDF intelligence unit warned four times about a possible Hamas offensive in October 2023. However, two written and two oral warnings by the officer were ignored by representatives of the military and political leadership of the state. Then, three weeks before the attack, Israel was convinced that Hamas was not interested in intensifying the confrontation.

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