Israel-Hamas war updates: Israel claims Hamas fighters are ‘surrendering’ and losing control of Gaza
Israel has revealed what it claims to be are the first signs of an Hamas collapse, as aid groups tell of “apocalyptic” scenes in Gaza hospitals. Follow the updates. Warning: Graphic
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Hamas is starting to lose control over the Gaza Strip, a top Israeli commander claimed.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military is beginning to see the collapse of Hamas’s governing system in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at a ceremony in Jerusalem with Nahal Brigade troops, he said: “I see the achievements every day. We are seeing every day more and more terror operatives killed, more and more terror operatives wounded, and in recent days we’re seeing terrorists surrendering — a sign of the disintegration of the system, a sign that we need to push harder.”
Leaked footage from the northern Gaza Strip earlier showed an apparent Hamas operative slowly placing an assault rifle on the ground, as dozens of Palestinian men surrendered to IDF troops, reported The Times of Israel.
Hamas operatives have increasingly been surrendering to the IDF in other areas of Gaza amid the fighting, according to military officials.
It comes as civilians in Gaza sought refuge in bombed-out hospitals as Israel vowed to “press harder” in its war with Hamas, a day after the United States blocked a ceasefire bid at the United Nations.
Aid groups said Gaza faces an “apocalyptic” humanitarian situation and is on the verge of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation.
At least 17,700 people, mostly women and children, have died in two months of fighting in the narrow strip of territory, according to the latest figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Washington vetoed a UN resolution that would have called for a ceasefire on Friday, a move strongly condemned by Palestinian and humanitarian groups.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he appreciated “the correct stance the US took” and vowed to “continue our just war to eliminate Hamas”.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas after its unprecedented attacks on October 7, when militants broke through Gaza’s militarised border, killed about 1,200 people and seized hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel on Saturday said 137 captives remain in the Palestinian territory.
Hundreds of makeshift tents fashioned from scraps of fabric and plastic filled the hospital’s courtyards and garden amid collapsed walls.
Suheil Abu Dalfa, 56, from the city’s Shejaiya district, said he fled heavy bombardment by Israeli planes and tanks.
“It was madness. A shell hit the house and wounded my 20-year-old son,” he told AFP.
“We fled to the Old City, everything was just strikes and destruction... we didn’t know where to go,” he said. “We don’t know if they will storm the hospital again.”
Alexandra Saieh, of Save the Children, spoke of “maggots being picked from wounds and children undergoing amputations without anaesthetic”.
The situation “is not just a catastrophe, it’s apocalyptic,” added Bushra Khalidi of Oxfam.
IRAN’S MIDDLE EAST WARNING
Iran warned of the threat of an “uncontrollable explosion” of the situation in the Middle East, after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the top diplomat of the Islamic republic, also appealed for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to enable humanitarian aid to be sent into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes also hit a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed.
Among the targets hit were several operational centres of the Iran-backed terror group.
It comes as dramatic body-cam footage released on X, formerly Twitter, shows IDF troops firing multiple rounds in a schooL in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.
Soldiers found a Hamas cell as they searched the building, as well as a tunnel shaft connecting a classroom to a nearby mosque.
“This is another example of Hamas’s cynical abuse of schools, they have turned places that should be safe-havens for children into hideouts for terrorists,” the IDF said.
A tunnel found by IDF troops in Gaza City's Shejaiya, with an elevator pic.twitter.com/iABzhGgOov
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
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ISRAELI STRIKE IN RAFAH
A ball of fire rose above a building during an Israeli strike, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. More of the photos from the damage are below.
DAMAGE FROM BLAST IN KHAN YUNIS
An Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip also destroyed a number of buildings.
HEAVY FIGHTING CONTINUES
Israel continued its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza on Saturday after the US vetoed an extraordinary UN Security Council vote calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and for the release of all hostages.
US envoy Robert Wood said the resolution was “divorced from reality” and “would have not moved the needle forward on the ground”.
US deputy ambassador, Richard Mills, added the US would not give up on its aim of removing Hamas, saying the US wanted “to break the cycle of unceasing violence so that history does not keep repeating itself”.
He said a ceasefire “would only plant the seeds for the next war”.
The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the UK abstaining.
The US has vowed to back Israel’s counteroffensive until the end of the year, giving Tel Aviv a deadline to wrap up its response to Hamas’s October 7 massacre, according to three Israeli officials.
Footage published by the IDF shows Hamas operatives opening fire at troops from an UNRWA school in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, and a strike in response. pic.twitter.com/eNpNsTsJJ4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
US VETO SPARKS BACKLASH
Hamas condemned the veto, describing it as “unethical and inhumane.” United Arab Emirates deputy ambassador Mohamed Abushahab warned the Security Council “appears untethered” from its mandate to ensure international peace and security.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said it was “a disgrace and another blank cheque given to the occupying state to massacre, destroy and displace”.
The veto was swiftly condemned by humanitarian groups, with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) saying the Security Council was “complicit in the ongoing slaughter”.
HAMAS ROCKETS FIRED
It comes at least three barrages of Hamas rockets were deployed and intercepted by the Iron Dome, while Israel’s Defence Force has been conducting tunnel-to-tunnel and house-to-house raids.
Israeli troops are also closing in on the “main Hamas stronghold” of Khan Yunis as they have struck more than 450 targets by ground, air and naval forces in Gaza.
Palestinians were told to move west as Israeli strikes targeted Gaza City, Jabalia, and Khan Yunis, where the IDF’s 98th Division continued the advance into the Hamas “centre of gravity”.
HAMAS ‘BEGINNING TO BREAK’
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said they are seeing signs that indicate Hamas is “beginning to break in Gaza”.
Vast areas of the Gaza Strip have been reduced to rubble, with the United Nations estimating 80 per cent of the population displaced and facing shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine.
One of those hostages, Eitan Levey, 53, was confirmed by the IDF to be dead in Gaza, according to his village. Another missing Israeli, Dror Kaplun, 68, was confirmed dead after DNA analysis of bones in Kibbutz Be’eri.
HOSTAGES STILL CAPTIVE AS PROTESTS SPREAD
Around 130 hostages are still unaccounted for.
About 300 people, including families of hostages, have protested against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called on him to resign.
Responding to stunning footage of Palestinian men bound, blindfolded and detained in Gaza, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said they “arrest everyone for questioning”.
“We investigate who is connected to Hamas, and who isn’t,” he said.
“We arrest everyone and question them. We will continue to dismantle all the areas until we are done.”
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