GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 653

Hamas Under Siege

The Pounding Continues

Hamas faces a conundrum as they stall the ceasefire talks. As they do that the Israel Defense Force’s relentless attacks on them in Gaza and it’s getting to the point where the only people representing them won’t even be living there as we see in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate:

The Israel Defense Forces this week killed Muhammad Uthayn, commander of Hamas’s Daraj Tuffah Battalion, the military said Friday, as ground troops continued advancing in the Gaza Strip in “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.”

Uthayn infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and subsequently carried out attacks against IDF soldiers throughout the ongoing war.

The many deaths in this report show us that Hamas is loosing leadership left and right:

His death further degrades the battalion’s capabilities and reduces its ability to target Israeli troops in the area, according to the military.

A former terrorist prisoner is dead as well, this one involved in the finances of the war:

Also this week, the Israeli Air Force killed Raed Khaled Hasan Jabayin, a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist who served a prison sentence in Israel from 2006 to 2015.

In recent years, and throughout the ongoing war, Jabayin was involved in transferring funds for the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, with the aim of facilitating and carrying out attacks in Judea and Samaria. According to the IDF, Jabayin played a key role in financing terrorist activity in the region, including arming operatives and planning attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The IDF then tells us of two more leaders pushing up daisies now:

Earlier on Friday, the IDF announced the killing of Barhoum Shahin, head of the Western Gaza District for Hamas’s General Security Apparatus, and Asham Tzartzur, who led the terrorist group’s Government Emergency Committee in eastern Gaza.

Both men played key roles in Hamas’s internal security and governance efforts, including supporting the terrorist group’s “military” wing and enforcing its rule through repression and violence against Gaza’s civilian population.

Even their legal leaders are falling like flies:

The IDF said it also killed Faraj al-‘Aoul, the head of Hamas’s legal bureau and a member of its legislative council.

I know if I was involved with Hamas in any function I would get out of dodge now.

And They Aren’t Through

The article then tells us about how the IDF is hitting strategic targets including underground ones:

Israeli military operations across the coastal enclave are ongoing as part of “Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign with the stated goal of dismantling Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, taking control of key areas in the Strip and securing the release of the 50 captives.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck approximately 90 targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorist compounds and underground infrastructure, the IDF said on Saturday.

Ground forces operating in the northern and central Strip eliminated terrorists and destroyed weapons storage facilities. In Gaza City, troops also dismantled rocket launchers and sniper positions.

Terrorists and their weapons are also being taken out:

Troops from the Nahal Infantry Brigade, operating under the command of the 162nd Division, this week identified a terrorist cell armed with a rocket-propelled grenade near Israeli positions in the Daraj Tuffah area of northern Gaza. An IAF craft, guided by soldiers on the ground, conducted a precision airstrike that eliminated the threat.

More tunnels are being demolished:

In a separate operation, IDF ground forces, in coordination with Yahalom special forces combat engineers, uncovered and dismantled a tunnel approximately 800 meters (875 yards) long and 18 meters (20 yards) deep.

Overall, Hamas is being taken apart terrorist by terrorist, weapon by weapon, and site by site:

The military said troops have destroyed weapons caches, observation posts and terrorist infrastructure, including a facility where Hamas operatives were hiding.

In one poll, Israelis favor the military to control Gaza after Hamas is eliminated if only for a time:

A majority of Israelis want the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli military rule after the war ends, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) this week. The poll, conducted by Menachem Lazar of Lazar Research at the beginning of July, found that 52% support an Israeli takeover of Gaza with a temporary military administration—if all hostages are first released. Only 4% believe Hamas should remain in power, whether politically or militarily.

From a Bible prophecy standpoint the Gaza Strip was given to the tribe of Judah and will go back to full Israeli control because the inhabitants have treated the Jews badly. That’s seen in Zephaniah 2:4-7 where Gaza is mentioned specifically. As in prophecy we don’t always know the why or the how, but in this case we can clearly see the why and to some extent the how.