Israel Warns ‘Gaza Mission Not Over’ After Killing Hamas Leader
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s military said Saturday that its mission in Gaza is not over despite killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in an operation that was planned for a year.
The comments came as Hamas-run authorities claimed scores of people, including children, were killed and many injured in Israeli strikes hitting a “refugee camp” in northern Gaza, though Israel maintained it targeted Hamas.
“Killing Sinwar is the result of a year of operational and intelligence efforts to bring him and other Hamas leaders to justice,” explained Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson of Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
He played down earlier reports that Sinwar was killed in a “surprise encounter” with Israeli forces. “Sinwar has been eliminated, but our mission is not over,” he warned.
The remarks added to pressure on U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as she had warned Israel not to enter Rafah, the southern Gaza enclave where Hamas had holed up among the civilian population.
She said in an interview that the U.S. would not rule out “consequences” if the Israeli military moved forward with a gathering invasion. However, on Thursday, she praised Israel’s success in killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as he hid out in that very city.
Hagari said declassified footage, reviewed by Worthy News, shows “Sinwar’s hours” before his Hamas fighters committed the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, on October 7, last year.
SINWAR TV
Sinwar was “taking down his TV into his tunnel, hiding underneath his civilians, and preparing to watch his terrorists murder, kidnap, and rape.”
Some 1,200 people, including babies and raped women, were killed, and 251 people were abducted by Hamas, which Israel has designated as an Iran-backed terrorist organization.
Following Sinwar’s death, several social media showed footage of “hundreds” of Hamas fighters allegedly surrendering to Israeli forces in the Jabalia area.
Worthy News could not confirm the footage independently, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not include such a video in their recent posts on social platform X.
However, at least 33 people were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strikes that hit several houses since Friday in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic “refugee camps,”Hamas-run authorities added.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the death toll from the strikes could rise as some people were believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.
The Palestinian official news agency WAFA claimed children were among those killed. Yet the IDF denied deliberately targeting innocent residents, while Hamas-run authorities declined to differentiate between combatants and civilians.
WRAPPED BODIES
Bodies wrapped in white shrouds reportedly laid out in the courtyard of al-Awda Hospital.
Hamas-liked authorities say Israeli forces have besieged the densely-populated Jabalia refugee camp for weeks.
The director of al-Awda Hospital said it had experienced an overwhelming influx of casualties, leaving hospital wards “completely full” with many of the injured “receiving treatment on the floor.”
Nearby in Beit Lahia, the Indonesian Hospital came under “heavy gunfire” from Israeli forces on Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
The ministry said more than 40 patients, as well as medical staff, were inside the hospital, adding that two people had died due to an “outage of electricity” and lack of “medical supplies”.
The IDF said their troops were operating near the hospital, and there “was no intentional fire directed at it.
Critics say Israel is trapping 400,000 people inside the Jabalia camp with little food or water for more than two weeks.
URGING CIVILIANS
Israel has urged civilians to leave, enabling its forces to target the last remnants of Hamas.
An Israeli minister, Amichai Chikli, “blockaded” parts of northern Gaza, which include Jabalia, to force Hamas to surrender.
“We allowed the civilian population to escape into the safe zone, and we prevented supplies to enter the blockade region,” he recalled. The minister stressed this was “legal according to the international law.”
There was also fighting reported in Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters.
And, Israel prepared to attack Iran after an “assissination attempt” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officials said.
Saturday’s incident added to concerns that the region will be engulfed by war and strife as hope for peace faded away.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.