Israel targets Hamas leaders, plans to send 10,000 troops to seize Gaza City

Israel plans to deploy 10,000 troops to the northern Gaza Strip, aiming to capture Gaza City and wipe out the Hamas leadership, according to a report by the New York Times, citing public statements by Israeli officers on Sunday.

Photo:

PAP/ EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK

Anticipated to be the largest Israeli offensive since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are expected to temporarily seize parts of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas fighters intend to counteract the offensive by utilizing underground tunnels to set traps and launch surprise attacks against Israeli soldiers, a Hamas representative told The New York Times.

The US daily cited an Israeli military spokesman, Col. Richard Hecht, as saying that one of their primary objectives is to target Jahij Sinwar, one of Hamas' leaders.

"That man is in our sights,” Hecht said, as quoted by The New York Times. "He’s a dead man walking, and we will get to that man."

As Israeli troops massed near the border with Gaza on Saturday, readying tanks and ammunition, fears of an imminent ground invasion created an exodus from northern Gaza amid a dire scarcity in the territory of water and other essentials. https://t.co/qUSWSSrVCf

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 15, 2023

Meanwhile, Iran sent a message to Israel on Saturday saying that it does not want further escalation in the Hamas-Israel war and that it might have to "intervene" if the Israeli operation in Gaza continues, according to a report by the Axios.com website, signaling a potential escalation in the Middle East conflict. 

(jh/gs)

Source: PAP, New York Times, axios.com