IOF say Staff Sergeant killed, 3 troops wounded in south Gaza
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The Israeli occupation military says an officer and two soldiers from the Givati Brigade were seriously injured in south Gaza battles.
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An Israeli occupation military brigadier general looks at soldiers carrying the casket of Staff Sergeant Simon Shlomov during his funeral, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo)
The Israeli occupation military confirmed that one of its troops was killed Saturday during battles with the Palestinian Resistance factions in south Gaza.
The occupation military identified the killed troop as Staff Sergeant Narya Belete in the Givati Brigade.
According to the statement, an officer and two soldiers also from the Givati Brigade were seriously injured in south Gaza battles.
With the latest announcement, the number of Israeli occupation troops killed since the start of the war on Gaza now stands at 578, including 239 in the ongoing ground invasion of the Strip, as per the Israeli military. But footage of top-tier operations published by the military media of the Palestinian Resistance factions indicates that the losses incurred are much greater than officially declared.
On Saturday, the Israeli occupation military confirmed that Major Eyal Shuminov, who served as a company commander in the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, was killed during battles in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
Thousands of Hamas fighters in northern Gaza, most tunnels intact: NYT
The New York Times cited US officials as saying that the majority of Hamas tunnel network remains intact, and that "Israel will not be able to achieve, in the foreseeable future, its goal of eliminating the group’s military capability."
The American newspaper emphasized that at least 5,000 Hamas fighters are still in the northern Gaza Strip, above and below ground, and that the Resistance movement remains active there, capable of launching rockets at "Israel" and attacking Israeli infantry forces.
It highlighted that despite more than 29,000 Palestinians killed, neighborhoods flattened, "families wiped out, children orphaned, and an estimated 1.7 million people displaced," Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of "destroying Hamas" remains "elusive", as per current and former Israeli security officials.
The White House has previously mentioned that while it is an "attainable goal" for "Israel" to "eliminate the military threat posed by Hamas", completely eliminating the group might not be achievable.
Israeli, US officials 'astonished' by Hamas tunnels: NYT
In mid-January, The New York Times revealed intimate details of the shock expressed by some Israeli and American officials regarding tunnels in Gaza used by the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas.
One tunnel in Gaza was large enough for a senior Hamas leader to drive a car through. Another was approximately three football fields long. The Israeli occupation forces claimed they discovered a spiral staircase beneath the home of a top Hamas leader, leading to a tunnel around seven floors deep.
Video and photo footage of the tunnels showcase why the Israeli forces were terrified of the tunnels before their onslaught in Gaza.
The occupation forces now have reason to believe there are scores more tunnels beneath Gaza and US and Israeli officials have expressed surprise at the "scope, depth, and quality" of the tunnels, even some of the gear used by Hamas to construct the tunnels.
Senior Israeli officials anonymously told NYT that the network is estimated to be between 350 and 450 miles long, which is exceptional for a territory with a longest point of about 25 miles. Two of the officers also estimated that there are around 5,700 different shafts heading down to the tunnels.
Aaron Greenstone, a former CIA officer with experience in the Middle East expressed that Hamas made use of the "time and resources over the last 15 years to turn Gaza into a fortress."
According to Greenstone, the tunnels are now considered a "subterranean nightmare" for the Israeli forces.
Israeli officials admitted that destroying the tunnels would not be an "easy task", since they need to be mapped, examined for captives, and not simply impaired but made irreparable. Recent attempts to obliterate the tunnels by flooding them with seawater were unsuccessful.
Officials have also anticipated that it would take years to deactivate Hamas' tunnel system.
Read more: 'Israel' unable to eliminate Hamas, will have to withdraw: Reports
