Israel says Hamas defeated ‘every place we fought them’
Hamas is no longer the militant group that triggered the two-year war in the Gaza Strip with its invasion of Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said at the beginning of the ceasefire in the region.
“Hamas is not the Hamas of two years ago. Hamas has been defeated everywhere we have fought them,” Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters in a briefing. he said.
He called on Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip to avoid entering areas under the control of the Israel Defense Forces.
“I hereby call on the people of Gaza to avoid entering areas under the control of the Israeli Armed Forces. Stick to the agreement and ensure your security,” he said.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians began flocking to their abandoned homes after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on Friday and Israeli troops began withdrawing from parts of the strip.
A large group of displaced Gazans made their way north through dust and rubble towards Gaza City, the region’s largest urban area, which had been attacked just days earlier in one of Israel’s biggest offensives of the war.
“Thank God, my house is still standing,” said 40-year-old Ismail Zayda, who lives in the Sheikh Ridvan district of Gaza City.
“But this place was destroyed, my neighbors’ houses were destroyed, entire neighborhoods were gone.”
The Israeli military said the ceasefire agreement was activated at noon local time.
The Israeli government approved a ceasefire with Hamas early Friday, paving the way for a partial withdrawal of troops and a complete suspension of hostilities in the region within 24 hours.
Hamas is expected to release 20 living Israeli hostages within 72 hours; After this, Israel will release 250 Palestinians who were imprisoned for long periods in Israeli prisons and 1,700 Palestinians who were detained in the Gaza Strip during the war.
US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that the Israeli army has completed the first phase of the withdrawal and the process of releasing the hostages has begun.
Once the agreement comes into force, trucks carrying food and medical aid will flood the Gaza Strip to help civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed homes and razed cities.
The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the two-year war requires the withdrawal of Israeli forces from some major urban areas in the Gaza Strip; but they still control roughly half of the region’s territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised speech that in future phases of the plan, Israeli forces will remain in the lane to ensure the demilitarization of the area and the disarmament of Hamas: “If this can be achieved the easy way, that will be good; if not, then it will be achieved the hard way.”
