With the IDF squeezing Hamas into an ever-tighter ring in Gaza City, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made a bold declaration, saying that the terror group no longer had any control over Gaza.

“There is no force of Hamas capable of stopping the IDF. The IDF is advancing to every point. The Hamas organization has lost control of Gaza. Terrorists are fleeing south. Civilians are looting Hamas bases. They have no confidence in the government,” Gallant said following a military assessment. He added that IDF forces are advancing
“according to plans and carry out the tasks accurately, lethally.”

“We work according to tasks. We don’t have a stopwatch. We have goals. We will achieve our goals,” Gallant said, in a possible response to Israeli FM Eli Cohen saying earlier Monday that the IDF has only several more weeks to operate as it needs to before international pressure grows too intense.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to protect civilian lives as it operates around Al Shifa hospital, where the bulk of Hamas’ headquarters are located beneath the complex.

“It’s my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action relative to the hospital,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. “The hospital must be protected.”

Separately, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that plans are being formulated to ensure that peace is restored for residents of northern Israel, which has been bombarded by Hezbollah in recent weeks.

“We are preparing strongly with action plans for the north. Our mission is to bring security. The security situation will not remain such that the residents of the north do not feel safe to return to their homes,” Halevi said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)