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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have begun engaging in full-fledged urban warfare in Gaza City, the largest city in the northern Gaza Strip, according to a report by The Washington Post (WP) on November 8 (local time).
Residents reported that the IDF had reached one block away from the Ansar Rotary, a major port in the heart of Gaza City. The sounds of gunfire and bullets raining down were heard in footage of the Gaza City skyline uploaded by an Al Jazeera cameraman, according to the WP. The cameraman revealed that ‘violent clashes’ were taking place near Ansar and Azar in the middle of Gaza City.
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◇ Israeli forces engage in urban warfare in Gaza City, destroying 130 Hamas tunnels
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israeli forces were clashing with Hamas as they advanced to the heart of Gaza City from the north and south, and spoke on the previous evening that they were “tightening the noose around Gaza.”
Since the start of ground operations in the Gaza Strip on October 27, the Israeli military has destroyed about 130 underground tunnels, according to Times of Israel (TOI).
The Israeli military discovered several tunnel entrances next to a structure with a car battery installed, suspected to be connected to an air filtration system, and announced that it had found and destroyed a Hamas tunnel adjacent to a UNRWA school in the northern Beit Hanoun area of Gaza.
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◇ ‘Post-Hamas’ rule in Gaza… U.S. Secretary of State Blinken: “Neither Hamas operation nor Israeli reoccupation can happen”
“Governance in Gaza and the West Bank should be centered on Palestinians”… White House: “It’s plausible for Israeli forces to manage transitional security in Gaza”
As the IDF’s ground operations intensify, the U.S. and Israel are beginning serious discussions about governance in Gaza after the defeat of Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken stated at a press conference following the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan, “Gaza cannot be run by Hamas, but it is also clear that Israel cannot reoccupy Gaza. There may be a transition period when the war ends, but Palestinians should be at the center of governance in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Secretary Blinken listed key principles related to the ‘Post-Hamas’ concept: not forcibly displacing the Palestinians in Gaza, preventing Gaza from being used as a base for terrorism, not reoccupying Gaza after the war, not attempting to blockade or encircle Gaza, not reducing the territory of Gaza, and preventing terrorist activities in the West Bank.
John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council’s (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator, also mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘indefinite security responsibility’ statement in a briefing, stating, “It’s plausible for Israeli forces to stay in Gaza for a certain period to manage the impact of the security situation after the war.”
This is not much different from the Israeli position. The Times of Israel reported in its online headline that the White House acknowledged the high likelihood of Israel maintaining initial security forces in Gaza after the war.
Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Israel has no intention of establishing a civilian government in Gaza and is considering handing over governance responsibility to an international coalition including the U.S., the European Union (EU), and several Islamic countries, or political leaders in Gaza, after the collapse of Hamas.
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◇ “Israel-Hamas, 3-day ceasefire conditions, negotiating the release of 12 hostages”
Despite the intensification of ground combat in Gaza, it appears that Israel and Hamas are negotiating the release of hostages through Qatar’s mediation.
AFP quoted a source close to Hamas as saying that Qatar was mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas to release 12 hostages, including six Americans, held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a three-day humanitarian ceasefire.
The New York Times (NYT) reported that under Qatar’s mediation, Israel and Hamas had almost reached an agreement to release up to 50 hostages in exchange for a cessation of Israeli shelling. Still, the negotiations were halted due to the start of the IDF’s ground operations. The negotiations have since resumed but hopes for an early release of the hostages have been dashed, according to Arab and Western officials familiar with the negotiations.
By. Ha Man Joo
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