Israeli Military Claims Hamas Has Lost Control in North Gaza, Destroys 130 Tunnels

IDF spokesman Laksda Daniel Badminton. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - The Palestinian militant group Hamas has lost control of northern Gaza as thousands of residents moved south, Israeli military (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing on Wednesday.

"We saw 50,000 Gazans moving from the northern Gaza Strip to the south. They moved because they understood that Hamas had lost control in the north," explained Admiral Hagari, as reported by Reuters, November 9.

"Hamas has lost control and continues to lose control in the north," he stressed.

Hagari added that there would be no ceasefire, but Israel had allowed humanitarian breaks at certain times to allow residents to move south.

Meanwhile, the IDF in its statement yesterday claimed that it had succeeded in destroying 130 Hamas tunnels since the start of the war, in line with expanding ground operations in Gaza.

"Combat engineers fighting in Gaza destroyed enemy weapons, scouted locations, exposed and blew up tunnels. With the expansion of ground operations in the Gaza Strip, soldiers thwarted Hamas infrastructure," the IDF said in a press release, quoted by CNN.

"As part of ground forces' activities in the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers are currently working to uncover and destroy Hamas tunnels," the statement continued.

"Since the start of the fighting, 130 tunnels have been destroyed," the statement said.

The IDF added, "Hamas' preparation for a long stay in the tunnels can be seen based on the water and oxygen facilities found in the tunnels."

Citing Reuters and Xinhua, at least 10,569 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said the dead included 4,324 children, adding that more than 26,000 people were injured.

He also asked the international community to protect the Palestinian people from Israeli attacks, because most of the victims were children and women.