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Agence France-Presse

The Israeli army said on Saturday it had “completed the dismantling” of Hamas’s command structure in the northern Gaza Strip.
“We have completed the dismantling of the Hamas military framework in the northern Gaza Strip,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.
He added that Palestinian militants were now operating in the area only sporadically and “without commanders”.
“Now the focus is on dismantling Hamas in the centre of the Gaza Strip and in the south of the Gaza Strip,” he said, while acknowledging that the task will take time.

Israel vowed to crush Gaza’s Hamas rulers after they carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on October 7.
It resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official figures. The militants also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israel.
Israel responded by bombarding the territory and sending in ground forces, killing at least 22,722 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Speaking about military efforts to dismantle Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip, Hagari said “we will do it in a different way” without elaborating.
Israel defence minister lays out vision for next phase of Gaza war
“The refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip are crowded and full of terrorists,” he said.
In the south, the large urban landscape of Khan Younis has an elaborate underground network of tunnels, he said. “It takes time.”
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had directed the army to “eliminate Hamas”, return all the hostages and ensure that Gaza will “never again be a threat to Israel”.
“The war must not be stopped until we achieve all of the goals,” he said in a statement


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Israel-Gaza war

Israel army says Hamas command structure ‘dismantled’ in north Gaza

An Israeli artillery unit fires near the Gaza border on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Smoke rises during Israeli military operations in the east of al-Maghazi, al-Bureij and al-Nuseirat refugee camps in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire across Lebanon border amid alarm over Gaza war spillover

Smoke rises above the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam following Israeli bombardment on Saturday, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

An Israeli fighter jet flies over an area near the Lebanon-Israel border, as seen from northern Israel on Saturday. Israel said it had struck terrorist targets in southern Lebanon. Photo: EPA-EFE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan at Vahdettin, a private residence of the presidency, in Istanbul, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib (left) with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Relatives of Palestinians killed during an Israeli air strike mourn in front of their wrapped bodies outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip take shelter at European Gaza Hospital in Rafah on Saturday. Photo: AP

Israeli strike kills 12, mostly children, in Gaza ‘safe zone’

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in an Israeli strike, outside a morgue in Khan Younis, Gaza on Thursday. Photo: AP

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza on Thursday. Photo: AP

People stand behind the fence of a morgue, near the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Mawasi, southern Gaza on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Hundreds mourn Hamas deputy leader at Beirut funeral

Mourners carry the coffin of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in a drone attack, during his funeral in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk attends the funeral of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday. Photo: AP

Mourners carry the coffin of Saleh al-Arouri as they pass in front of graffiti that shows late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday. Photo: AP

News

World

Middle East

Militants in the area are now operating sporadically and ‘without commanders’, and the focus is now on the centre and south of the Gaza Strip, a spokesman says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government has directed the army to ‘eliminate Hamas’ and return all hostages


Militants in the area are now operating sporadically and ‘without commanders’, and the focus is now on the centre and south of the Gaza Strip, a spokesman says.


Israel

War and conflict

Benjamin Netanyahu