150 tunnels destroyed
Israel declares Hamas brigade in Rafah defeated
Israel claims to have defeated the Hamas brigade in the Rafah area in the south of the Gaza Strip.
"The Rafah Brigade has been defeated and more than 150 tunnels in this region have been destroyed," declared Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a visit to the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt: he had instructed the troops to now concentrate on destroying the remaining tunnels on the border between the coastal strip and Egypt.
Despite massive international criticism, Israel had advanced to Rafah in May in order to destroy the remaining forces of the Islamist terrorist organization there. Around one million refugees, who according to estimates had crowded into the city, left again. The Israeli troops also captured the Rafah border crossing to Egypt and the so-called Philadelphi Corridor.
This area, which is around 14 kilometers long, is considered one of the biggest points of contention in the negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire. Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, insists that Israel must continue to control the corridor even after a ceasefire in order to prevent weapons smuggling, for example.
Background
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, with more than 1,200 dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 last year. More than 250 hostages were taken from Israel to Gaza.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 40,223 people have been killed and almost 93,000 injured in the subsequent Israeli offensive in the sealed-off coastal strip. The figures, which cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
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