The Al Quds Hospital in Gaza where Hamas terrorists hid. (IDF)
Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant declared Monday evening that Hamas has “lost control of Gaza,” adding that its “terrorists are fleeing south.” His comments came after a 24-hour period during which 6 senior Hamas terrorists were killed by the IDF and 21 terrorists were killed as they used a hospital in Gaza for cover.
And Monday night the IDF released a photo of its smiling forces occupying the Hamas Parliament building in Gaza.
“There is no power of Hamas capable of stopping the IDF,” declared Gallant. “The IDF is advancing to every point.”
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“Our forces are advancing, carrying out their missions according to plan,” he added, “when we increase the pressure we see the results, every day we eliminate more Hamas commanders, tens and sometimes hundreds of terrorists and the IDF comes to the center of Gaza City and acts according to its considerations.”
“In recent days we have intensified our activity against the tunnels, this will get the terrorists out of the tunnels, and there either they will be eliminated or they will surrender unconditionally, there is no third option.”
Gallant’s comments came after Israeli forces killed 21 Hamas terrorists who were using Gaza City’s Al Quds Hospital as a base of operations after the terrorists opened fire on the approaching Israeli troops. This was yet another example of Hamas’ continued use of sensitive sites, including hospitals, to shoot at IDF forces.
After they were fired on by the terrorists hiding under cover of the hospital, the forces of a brigade combat team, which included armor, engineering, and infantry forces, with assistance from the air force, responded with live fire and shell fire toward the sources of the fire.
The IDF reported that during the exchange of fire, civilians were seen leaving the hospital building and terrorists who fled the area mixed in with the civilians as they joined the attack on Israeli forces.
They fired an RPG at the IDF forces before running back into the hospital for shelter.
IDF forces were able to identify the terrorists from among the civilians.
In other activities, the IDF eliminated six senior Hamas terrorist operatives over the past day.
Yakub Ashur, the head of the anti-tank system in Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade in Gaza, was killed in an air strike. Ashur was a battalion commander in Hamas’ network and later rose to lead its anti-tank formation in the Khan Yunis Brigade. As part of his role, Ashur took part in leading and directing offensives against IDF forces.
The former head of military intelligence of the terrorist organization Hamas Khosl Muhammad Hamis Dababesh, was also killed.
The IDF said Khosl Muhammad Hamis Dababesh was a senior Hamas terrorist who, over the last two years, served as Hamas’ secretary of the national relations portfolio and served as a Hamas representative at gatherings of the national and Islamic factions in the Gaza Strip.
He was involved in directing the attack in the town of Atzmona – located in the southwest corner of Samaria to the east of Tel Aviv – in March 2002, in which five Israelis were murdered.
The IDF reported that over the past 24 hours, it also eliminated Tahsin Maslam, the commander of the combat assistance company who was responsible for the special forces in Beit Lahia, Jahad Azzam, an investigative officer of the military intelligence of Hamas in Zeitoon, and Manir Harev, the head of the information system in the Rafah Brigade.
