Israel, bombing Gaza. The American report that embarrasses Netanyahu: Hamas will not be destroyed

Dozens of civilians were martyred and others were injured at dawn today by air and artillery bombardment on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that Israeli aircraft targeted several areas in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 24 people. Artillery fired dozens of shells at the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, which is witnessing intense artillery shelling for the third day in a row. The Al-Sabra neighborhood, in the center of Gaza City, was also targeted. Seven people were killed and others were injured in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. In Rafah, occupation aircraft bombed the Al-Salam neighborhood and the vicinity of the crossing.

Meanwhile, yesterday Israeli forces were attacked at least 17 times by Palestinian armed groups in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, indicating that “Hamas has managed to maintain or reshape its military capabilities” despite ongoing Israeli operations in the area. This was stated in a joint assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threat Project (CTP) – two US-based think tanks – which determined that Hamas fighters used sniper rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. In the 17 attacks in which the occupation forces attempted to liberate Al-Zaytoun for the third time. “This high rate of attacks is not consistent with a devastating military force,” the ISW/CTP report said, adding that “Palestinian militias retain the will and means to continue to disrupt and defend against Israeli raids, as demonstrated by the rate of Palestinian militia attacks during this raid.”

War observers said that “the steadfastness of Hamas and other Palestinian militias” strongly suggests that the Israeli military operation “in Rafah will not destroy Hamas, a group that has survived as a military entity in the rest of the Strip, including throughout the north.” “.

Moreover, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, anonymous sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel. The Israeli newspaper’s sources did not mention Sinwar’s current whereabouts, but they cited recent intelligence assessments that placed the Hamas leader in underground tunnels in the Khan Yunis area, about five miles north of Rafah. A third source said that Sinwar is in Gaza. Israel has made eliminating Sinwar a key component of its goal of destroying Hamas. In February, the Israeli military released footage showing Sinwar walking through a tunnel, in what are believed to be the first images of him since the October 7 attack, which the Hamas leader is accused of orchestrating and which led to the ongoing war in Gaza.