Israel: Assassins Hamas leader, abandons hostage rescue, accepts civilian casualties
Israel announced the ‘assassination of the Hamas leader’, ruled out a ceasefire as the largest attack, and formalized ‘sensitivity to civilian casualties.’
Yomiuri reported on the 5th that Ronen Bar, head of the Israeli intelligence agency Simbet, announced on Israeli public broadcaster Khan TV that leaders of the Islamist group Hamas would be assassinated in Qatar and other places.
“This is our Munich,” Barr said in her live televised announcement. “It will take a few years, and we will go to Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.”
The “1972 Munich Olympic Village” incident, which Barr referred to, was a retaliation for the killings of about 10 Palestinian guerrillas in Rome and elsewhere by Mossad and other intelligence agencies after the killings of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes.
“It is taking time to order more precise evacuations to reduce civilian casualties, but Israel cannot completely rule out civilian casualties,” a senior Israeli official said. “We did not start this war. "It's unfortunate, but if we want to fight evil, we have to carry out an operation," he told Reuters on the 5th.
Israeli military spokesman Major General Daniel Hagari said on the 4th, “The Israeli military is pursuing Hamas with maximum force in the north and south while trying to minimize civilian casualties,” and added, “We are expanding operations against Hamas strongholds throughout the Gaza Strip.” He said.
Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the hostage rescue operation due to the attack at a joint party-government meeting on the 3rd, saying, "We continue to discuss the release of hostages with our enemies. We are talking about it as a military operation."
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a meeting with the families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip on the 5th, "It is currently impossible to bring them all back."
Prime Minister Netanyahu previously ordered the foreign intelligence agency Mossad, which was negotiating the release of hostages in Qatar, to withdraw on the 2nd.
“The United States does not expect Israel to attack areas designated as ‘no-strike’ zones in the Gaza Strip,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, according to Reuters.
Yomiuri revealed in October that Simbet, responsible for domestic affairs, along with Mossad, responsible for foreign intelligence, had created a new special unit called Niri, referring to assassination commandos, to track Hamas.
Israeli Army Major General Hagari pointed to reporters and pointed to a map dividing southern Gaza into dozens of blocks to give Gaza residents "accurate guidance" on where to evacuate.
Ezaki, a professor at Japan's National Defense Graduate School, said on BS NTV on the 5th that the reason the Israeli military released the Gaza Strip withdrawal map was "a simple notice and warning that the Israeli military is obsessed with carrying out its war goals and did what it had to do." Analyzed the attack.
Professor Koichiro Tanaka of Keio University and Associate Professor Tomoe Ezaki of the National Defense Graduate School said on BS NTV's 'Deep News' that Professor Tanaka said regarding the release of hostages in the future, "If there is no attitude to keep the promises and negotiations of both sides, “It will be very difficult to move on to the next stage,” Yomiuri reported.
“Most urge people to flee south, but confusingly, a map posted by the Israeli military on .
“The level of human suffering is unbearable,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. “Even in this situation, an appropriate humanitarian response is currently impossible,” he told the AP during a visit to Gaza.
The Israeli military, which expanded its ground invasion throughout the Gaza Strip, strengthened its attacks on southern Kaneuis and Rafah on the 4th, and the number of deaths in Gaza increased to about 900 that day, and the number of civilian casualties also increased sharply, Gaza health authorities said.
In addition to the intense airstrikes and shelling of southern Gaza, tanks and armored vehicles were deployed near Han Yunis, and Israeli media reported on the 4th that a fierce battle took place between the Israeli army and Hamas militants in the northern part of the Gaza Strip immediately after the end of the temporary ceasefire. .
AP reported that both the Jabaliya Refugee Camp, where fighting intensified on this day, and the Shijaiyah area of Gaza City, have both been places where intense bombings and fighting have taken place in recent weeks.
“Israeli warplanes heavily bombed the area around Khan Younis in southern Gaza on the 4th as strike forces ordered a mass evacuation of the town following an escalating ground offensive that is pushing Palestinians into a gradually shrinking portion of the besieged territory,” the AP said. “The escalating attacks have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to face the fatal choice of staying in the path of Israeli troops or fleeing into the southern borders of the Gaza Strip without any guarantees of safety,” he said. Aid workers say the public has already “We warned that this would further worsen the serious humanitarian disaster,” the report said.
The AP continued, “Israel, which is under increasing pressure from its top ally the United States, appears to be rushing to deal a fatal blow to Hamas before a new ceasefire is reached,” adding, “Given that Hamas is deeply entrenched in Palestinian society, the number of casualties is high.” “As the number increases, the pressure from the international community to return to the negotiating table is expected to grow further,” he said.
“Telephone and internet networks across Gaza collapsed again on the evening of the 4th,” Palestinian telecommunications company PalTel said.
“Local residents and journalists said Israeli airstrikes in the south of the densely populated coastal area included areas where Israel had ordered residents to seek shelter,” Reuters said. “Israel invaded the northern half of the Gaza Strip in November. “They captured most of it, and after a week-long ceasefire collapsed on December 1, they advanced rapidly deep into the southern half.”
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, told Reuters its fighters had clashed violently with Israeli soldiers to the north and east of Khan Younis, the main southern city of Gaza.
Gaza residents said Israeli tanks had crossed the border into the Gaza Strip and blocked the main route leading north to south, Reuters reported.
“The central road leading north from Khan Younis is currently closed, calling it a ‘battle zone,’” the Israeli military said, Reuters reported.