Israel-Hamas war: IDF says it destroyed Hamas hideout

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the war between Israel and Hamas will last for "many more months" — until the militant group has been eliminated.

"We will guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," he told a news conference and later posted on social media, adding that the military was involved in a "complex fight" and needed time to achieve its goals.

"As Prime Minister, I have rejected the international pressure aimed at stopping the war before we achieve these goals," he added.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a terror attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed.

Netanyahu, who thanked the United States for their continued support, continues to push back against persistent international cease-fire calls after mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the besieged enclave. 

Israeli troops have shot a Palestinian motorist who tried to ram them near the West Bank city of Hebron, the army said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident happened at a military post near the Fawwar refugee camp and that the driver was "neutralized."

An AFP journalist saw Israeli forces surrounding a vehicle, with soldiers and military vehicles deployed in the area.

Palestinian sources in the West Bank said the driver was shot dead by Israeli troops at the camp entrance.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported one person was wounded.

At least 21,672 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry announced on Saturday. It added that 165 people have been killed in the past 24 hours alone.

The ministry put the number of the injured at 56,165, including 250 in the past 24 hours. 

It said 70% of the victims were women and children.

International humanitarian agencies consider the numbers provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry to be broadly reliable, although the ministry does not provide separate tolls for civilians and combatants.

"The Israeli occupation purposefully targeted 142 health facilities, putting 23 hospitals and 53 health centers out of service," the ministry said in a statement.

Israel has denied targeting civilians on purpose.

The Israeli military advanced into districts in central and southern Gaza, residents said Saturday, pressing an offensive that has destroyed or damaged much of the Gaza Strip.

Fighting early Saturday included heavy air and artillery fire and was focused in Bureij, Nuseirat and Khan Younis.

A senior health official in central Gaza told Reuters news agency that 100 Palestinians were killed and 150 more were injured in central Gaza over the past 24 hours.

"Enough with this war! We are totally exhausted," the French AFP news agency quoted Umm Louay Abu Khater as saying. The 49-year-old woman had fled her home in Khan Yunis, taking refuge in Rafah, on the Egyptian border.

Rafah has been overwhelmed with internally displaced Palestinians, with the Israeli military operation pushing the strip's some 2.3 million residents southward since it started nearly three months ago.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by the US, the European Union and several other countries.

The deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip are continuously surprising the humanitarian community "and not in a good way," said Sean Casey, a health emergency coordinator with the World Health Organization.

"The conditions that people are in are shocking," Casey told DW on Saturday. "It's pushing people to really lose their dignity and to lose their safety, to lose their sense of security."

Casey spoke of rampant displacement, saying around 90% of the besieged strip's population has now been displaced, many of whom not for the first time. Some residents have been displaced from the north to central Gaza, then again to the south.

He said the continuous southward influx is "causing a huge amount of pressure" in the southern city of Rafah.

"It's hard to even move around Rafah because the streets are so full of people, but it creates a huge risk for the spread of infectious diseases," he said.

Casey also addressed the food insecurity issues in Gaza, saying that "we don't have enough food, water, sanitation facilities" for all of the people moving southward.

"Almost every family in Gaza now is reducing their food intake, skipping meals, and now displacement is at an enormous scale, and more and more people are being pushed into a very small area here in the south, and it creates very poor living conditions."

He also spoke about "emotional distress," especially among children.

"You see them, just standing on the street, not knowing what to do," he said. 

The Israeli military said early Saturday that it had carried out strikes in Syria after two rockets fired from the country landed in open areas in Golan Heights. 

"Following the report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, a short while ago two launches that were identified crossing from Syria fell in an open area," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. "The IDF is striking the sources of fire." 

The statement also said Israel targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon, including a rocket-launching site, earlier in the day.

Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. It subsequently annexed the area in a move that was not recognized by the UN.

The Israeli military said it had destroyed a tunnel complex used as a hideout by Yehya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

Sinwar was believed to be the mastermind of the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,200 people dead and saw 240 more taken hostage.

The Israel Defense Forces said the tunnel complex was in the basement of one of the houses Sinwar used in Gaza City.

The shaft led to a network designed for lengthy stays and could serve as a command center outfitted with electricity, an elevator, prayer rooms, bathrooms and air conditioning, it said.

The IDF statement could not be independently verified.

Sinwar is now believed to be in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Israel classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, as do the United States, the European Union, Germany, and several other states.

A US citizen living in Egypt has been charged for trying to join militant Islamist group al-Shabab, the US Justice Department said, alleging he was motivated by Hamas' terror attack on Israel.

The 23-year-old was arrested on December 14 after flying to Nairobi, Kenya, where prosecutors say he was planning to meet with militants before traveling to train in Somalia.

He was charged with "attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization," and appeared in a US court on Friday.

He was "motivated by the heinous terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies," US Attorney Damian Williams said.

Prosecutors also said in exchanges with an FBI confidential source and postings online that the accused said he had been thinking about "engaging in jihad for a long time," but that he was "not capable of doing it" before Hamas attacked Israel, the complaint said.

rm/lo (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)