After besieging Gaza city, Israel targeted Hamas tunnels, Blinken wants support of G7 countries on war

The country’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Israeli forces were operating in the heart of Gaza City and tightening the noose around Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that rules the strip. He made the comments as the Israeli military said its forces in Gaza had begun locating and neutralizing Hamas’s vast tunnel network beneath the besieged Palestinian territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel-Hamas war, which is one month old, is progressing with greater force than Hamas has ever seen. He said Israeli ground troops are intensifying pressure on the terrorist group every hour, every day.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a whirlwind trip to the Middle East, seeking consensus from his G7 counterparts in Tokyo on how to deal with the Israel-Hamas war, including the option of pursuing a ‘humanitarian pause’. To allow aid to reach Gaza for affected civilians. Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that ground troops and armored vehicles in Gaza had only one target, which was Hamas and their infrastructure, their commanders, bunkers, communications cells. On the other hand, Hamas claimed that its fighters had caused heavy losses to Israeli ground forces. Gallant spoke about Hamas’ Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, saying that he was isolated from his bunker and that his chain of command was weakening. He also said that there are kilometers of tunnels beneath schools and hospitals that contain weapons depots, communication rooms and hideouts for terrorists.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the country’s engineering corps was deploying explosive devices to destroy Hamas’s extensive tunnel network. Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the Israeli military has responded with deadly aerial bombardments and expanded its ground operations into the Gaza Strip. The war has killed more than 10,000 people in Gaza and more than 1,400 in Israel alone.