Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday that Israel would “find” and “eliminate” the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar.

Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza StripPhoto: MOHAMMED ABED / AFP / Profimedia

“We will find Sinvar and eliminate him,” said Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“This Saturday afternoon, we fought heavy battles inside the Gaza Strip. We have completed the encirclement (of Gaza City) and our forces are operating from the south and the north,” he continued.

“And for this we went into residential areas,” announced Yoav Gallant.

On Friday, October 27, the Israeli army began a ground operation on the territory of Palestine.

At least 29 Israeli soldiers have been killed since then, according to the army.

Since October 7, at least 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, killed on the day of the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

In response, Israel declared war to “destroy” Hamas by relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip, led by the Palestinian Islamist movement. According to the Hamas government, these explosions killed almost 9,500 people, mostly civilians.

On October 27, the Israeli army accused Hamas of “waging war from the hospitals” of the Gaza Strip, which the Islamist movement categorically denied.

  • Read also: Who is Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, who decided to attack Israel and spent 24 years in prisons there

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