The Israel-Hamas conflict shows no signs of cooling down as recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza until the Hamas Islamic movement is "erased".
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| An entrance to a tunnel believed to be belonging to Hamas discovered by the Israeli military. |
French news agency AFP reported that on December 20, Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear: "We will not stop fighting until we achieve all the goals we set: eliminating Hamas, freeing the hostages and ending the threat from Gaza."
In addition, he affirmed that Israeli forces are attacking Hamas “everywhere” in Gaza.
The Israeli Prime Minister made the above statement in the context that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo on the same day to discuss with Egyptian intelligence director Abbas Kamel about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters , US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington wants and expects Israel to move its military operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase, focusing on dealing with Hamas leadership, the tunnel network and a number of other important issues.
Arguing that once the above change takes place, “civilian casualties” will be significantly reduced, Mr. Blinken also emphasized the call for Israel to fulfill its obligation to minimize civilian casualties in the conflict with Hamas.
Earlier the same day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had discovered a network of tunnels running deep under Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip, believed to be "the power center of Hamas' political and military wing".
According to images published by the media, the tunnels have access via spiral staircases and elevators 20 meters underground, equipped with electricity, water, surveillance cameras and bomb-proof doors.
The tunnels were used by senior Hamas leaders – including leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Muhammad Deif – as a command post for operations and to “protect daily movement” through central Gaza City.
Earlier this week, the IDF also announced the discovery of an unusually large concrete tunnel with an iron frame, designed to transport Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip directly to the border with Israel. However, the Israeli military has so far failed to find any senior Hamas leaders.
According to statistics from the Hamas government's media office in the Gaza Strip on December 20, at least 20,000 people, including about 8,000 children and 6,200 women, have been killed in this territory since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict on October 7.
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