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Israel declares Hamas defeated ‘every place we fought them’
Hamas is no longer the armed group whose invasion of Israel triggered the two-year war on Gaza, the Israeli military says.
“Hamas is not the Hamas of two years ago. Hamas has been defeated every place we fought them,” Brigadier-General Effie Defrin, the army spokesperson, told reporters at a briefing.
He urged Palestinian residents of Gaza to avoid entering areas still under control by Israeli forces in the enclave.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians began flocking towards their abandoned homes after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on Friday and Israeli troops began pulling back from parts of Gaza.
Turkiye says Gaza truce must hold to prevent ‘return to massacres’
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has warned against any Israeli provocation that could reignite the war on Gaza and prolong civilian suffering.
“It is vital that the agreed-upon deal proceeds without disruption,” Fidan told a news conference. “There must be no provocations from Israel that could restart the war, continue the genocide, or further the displacement of civilians. If the process stalls, it could mean a return to massacres.”
He added to prevent that, “we are working with the international community and our regional partners to ensure the next stages proceed without interruption”.
The next stage of the truce will address Gaza’s governance and efforts to restore internal security, he said.
“This process demands continuous attention and diligence,” Fidan said. “We will continue to manage it with care and determination as we have done so far.”
Will the Israelis cite ‘security threats’ to ignore full troop pullout?
Enforcing the Gaza truce benchmarks will be critical to the deal’s survival, a security analyst says.
“One of my concerns going forward is do the Israelis reach a point where they fail to withdraw to a certain line because they claim there’s a ‘security threat’ and that leads to a breakdown?” Colin Clarke, executive director of The Soufan Center, told Al Jazeera.
“Conversely, are there hardline Hamas elements, splinter groups that break off, that refuse to move forward on certain sequences. That gets into a whole separate challenge, which is Hamas disarmament. That, in my mind, is one of the most challenging aspects over the weeks and months.”
Clarke noted that in such peace deals, there’s usually “political inclusion” involved, but that’s not the case with Hamas.
“When you talk about carrots and sticks, that’s one of the carrots for a group to go forward with disarmament – that they’re going to be included in some kind of post-conflict political settlement. The Israelis said already Hamas can’t be part of that, so then why would Hamas disarm?” he said.
