Jerusalem:

The Israeli military mentioned on Saturday it had “accomplished the dismantling” of Hamas’s command construction within the northern Gaza Strip.

“Now we have accomplished the dismantling of the Hamas army framework within the northern Gaza Strip,” military spokesperson Daniel Hagari advised reporters.

He added that Palestinian members had been now working within the space solely sporadically and “with out commanders”.

“Now the main focus is on dismantling Hamas within the centre of the Gaza Strip and within the south of the Gaza Strip,” he mentioned, whereas acknowledging that the duty will take time.

Israel vowed to crush Gaza’s Hamas rulers after they carried out the deadliest assault within the nation’s historical past on October 7.

It resulted within the deaths of round 1,140 individuals, most of them civilians, in accordance with an AFP tally based mostly on official figures.

The Hamas members additionally took round 250 hostages, 132 of whom stay in captivity, in accordance with Israel.

Israel responded by bombarding the territory and sending in floor forces, killing a minimum of 22,722 individuals, most of them ladies and youngsters, in accordance with the well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Talking about army efforts to dismantle Hamas within the central and southern Gaza Strip, Hagari mentioned “we’ll do it otherwise” with out elaborating.

“The refugee camps within the central Gaza Strip are crowded and filled with terrorists,” he mentioned.

Within the south, the massive city panorama of Khan Yunis has an elaborate underground community of tunnels, he mentioned. 

“It takes time.”

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned his authorities had directed the military to “eradicate Hamas”, return all of the hostages and be sure that Gaza will “by no means once more be a menace to Israel”.

“The battle should not be stopped till we obtain the entire targets,” he mentioned in a press release.

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)