In a public video announcement posted Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that the Israeli military had surrounded the Khan Yunis residence of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and one of the architects of the October 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel.
“Now they surround Sinwar’s house. His house is not a fortress, and he can escape, but it’s only a matter of time before we get to him,” Netanyahu declared.
On October 14, IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht named Sinwar “the face of evil,” and likened his role in the October 7 massacre to that of Osama bin Laden in the September 11 attacks.
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Current intelligence presumes that Sinwar and much of Hamas’ remaining leadership are likely hiding underground, somewhere in the vast network of tunnels that have been built beneath Gaza.
The IDF reported earlier this week that their forces had discovered over 800 tunnel shafts since the ground campaign began. At least 500 of the shafts have already been destroyed according to the same report. The IDF has floated that nontraditional strategies may be needed to render the tunnels fully inoperable; one example being flooding the vast underground network with seawater. [2]
As intense fighting rages in central Khan Yunis and the Israeli military approaches a potential endgame in their takeover of Gaza, Netanyahu reiterated to the nation in a televised address he would not allow an international force to oversee Gaza after the war.
“Gaza must be demilitarized, and there is only one force that can take care of this demilitarization,” he stated. “This force is the Israel Defense Forces. No international force can be responsible for this.”
Netanyahu alluded to the inability of other post-conflict peacekeeping forces to demilitarize populations. “I am not willing to close my eyes and accept any other arrangement,” he added, speaking about Israel’s capacity to handle the territory’s security.