The war enters its 31st day.
The IDF is beginning to see signs of Hamas weakening. 10 days into the ground maneuver, it is now permissible to report that the city’s encirclement from the south has been completed and now the forces are continuing the fight within the city itself.
Above ground, the city of Gaza, like the whole Strip, has been seriously damaged with tens of thousands of buildings hit and thousands destroyed. Underground, where Hamas continues to hide, pressure continues from the air as well as on the ground and Hamas has been forced to draw back.
Now Hamas is relying on humanitarian installations as a shield for command posts and fighters: hospitals, aid centers, schools, and kindergartens. The IDF is operating against the tunnels with the aid of technological and engineering solutions for identifying and destroying them.
The IDF said today that the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians moving south from Gaza City to the area of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah disrupted the Hamas plan. “It is very worried at the move south of the civilians – it’s breaking them. It makes them deal with matters of control and not combat. It also removes the human shields they were relying on.”
So far, the IDF has managed to seriously harm Hamas’ middle ranks – commanders of battalions and companies. The senior leaders are being targeted but have escaped, for now. “They are all marked for death,” the army said.