IDF: Hamas has Lost Control of Gaza

"Hamas has lost control of Gaza - terrorists fleeing south, civilians looting Hamas bases", Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday night - five weeks after the terror attack. Soldiers from the Golan Brigade shared a historic photo showing them lifting the Israeli flag in the meeting room of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007, and since then there have been no elections in the Gaza Strip.

"Our units operate according to plan and execute missions precisely, lethally and in coordination between air, sea and land forces, using precise intelligence," the defense minister added.

"There is no force with which Hamas can stop the Israeli army, it is advancing at all points. Hamas has lost control of Gaza, terrorists are fleeing south, civilians are looting Hamas bases, they have no confidence in their government." said Gallant.

Army strikes have crippled the effectiveness of 10 of Hamas' 24 battalions, the military says.

For the first time since the start of the war, they today provided their official estimates of the size and composition of Hamas forces ahead of the war, which began on October 7. As well as the effect on the Hamas forces of more than a month of airstrikes and two and a half weeks of ground operations.

According to the army, Hamas started the war with 30,000 men, who were divided into five regional brigades, which were made up of a total of 24 battalions or 140 companies. Each battalion had about 1,000 men.

Troops from the 188th Army Brigade have eliminated a terrorist group operating in the Al-Quds Hospital area of Gaza City, the military said in a statement on Monday. According to them, the explanation for the fighting there is that several terrorists, hidden among civilians, fired two rocket launchers at the soldiers in front of the hospital and damaged a tank. This was answered with gunfire and air support. About 21 terrorists were killed, the army said, where it maintained that there were no Israeli casualties in the battle.

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari shows journalists footage that he says is evidence of Hamas infrastructure at Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital. The video showed the group's equipment found in the basement under the hospital - Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades, RPGs, explosives, explosive vests, computers, money and a motorcycle used in the October 7 attacks.

He said the Israeli army also found baby feeding bottles, a makeshift toilet and a small kitchen in the basement, which he said showed Hamas was holding hostages there. The group systematically denies hiding its fighters under hospitals.

Hamas' armed wing said on Monday it had told Qatari mediators it was ready to release up to 70 women and children detained in Gaza in exchange for a five-day truce with Israel.

"Last week, the Qatari brothers attempted to release women and children in exchange for the release of 200 Palestinian children and 75 women held by the enemy," Abu Ubaydah, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in an audio recording posted on the group's channel on Telegram. "The truce must include a complete ceasefire and allow aid and humanitarian aid everywhere in the Gaza Strip," he added, accusing Israel of "procrastinating and avoiding" paying such a price for the deal.

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