Hamas Watch

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A right-wing Israeli minister says victory for Israel won’t come until Gaza is “entirely destroyed” and Palestinians are forced out into other countries.

Israeli Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich made the statement during a Tuesday appearance at a conference on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While Smotrich is a senior Israeli official, his statement does not represent the official policy of the Israeli government.

“Within a year we will be able to declare victory in Gaza,” he told attendees. “Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to… the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries,” Smotrich said, according to the Agence France-Presse.

“Israel does not intend to withdraw from territories the IDF captures, not even as part of a deal to release hostages,” he added.

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Israel approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, in a move that if implemented would vastly expand Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territory and likely bring fierce international opposition.

Israel’s cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, likely exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

Since a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of Gaza.

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The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists to “intensify and expand” its operations in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “increasing the pressure” with the aim of returning hostages held in Gaza and defeating Hamas militants.

Under the plan, the military said it would operate in new areas and “destroy all infrastructure” above and below ground.

The Israeli security cabinet was expected to vote on the military expansion on Sunday, local media reported.

No Israeli hostages have been released since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the end of the truce.

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At least 26 Palestinians have been killed – including 11 believed burned to death – in ferocious Israeli attacks across Gaza. Horrific imagery of bodies being pulled out of a rubbled housing complex in Khan Younis, in the Strip’s south, showed the scale of the morning air-strikes.

An attack early on Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine, including four women and four children. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents and the early morning attacks were part of a widening Israeli campaign in Gaza to try and and wipe out Hamas and force the release of hostages.

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Hamas says it has “lost contact” with the group of fighters holding an Israeli-American hostage captive in Gaza following an Israeli strike on their location.

The 21-year-old soldier, Edan Alexander, has appeared in videos released by the group in recent days.

Israel had asked for him to be released on day one of a new 45-day ceasefire proposal put forward last week which has been rejected by Hamas.

Hamas on Tuesday did not indicate when contact had been lost and has not produced any evidence for their claim. Israel regularly asserts it avoids hitting locations where it believes hostages are being held.

“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location,” Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement.

“We are still trying to reach them at this moment,” he added.

At least 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza– www.euronews.com
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At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, including 27, or more sheltering at a school in the north of the strip, according to Palestinian medical authorities.

The attacks come as Israel heightens its offensive in what it said is a campaign intended to ramp up pressure on Hamas and eventually expelling the Gaza-based group.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City. The death toll may continue to rise as some of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries, according to the spokesperson of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Zaher al-Wahidi.

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Israeli troops have moved into an area of northern Gaza to expand what they refer to as a “security zone” around the enclave, the military said today.

It comes days after Israel announced plans to seize large areas with an operation in the south.

Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for Shejaia, a suburb on the edge of the enclave, on Thursday.

Civilians are now being let out of the area via organised routes, the military said in its statement.

Hundreds of residents have streamed out, with some on foot carrying their belongings while others are in vans, on donkey carts and bikes.