IDF progressing on overthrowing Hamas, spokesman says in Gaza's Khan Yunis
The Hamas headquarters under the European Hospital was one of the central command centers for planning the October 7 invasion, Effie Defrin said in Khan Yunis.
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin on Sunday visited the site and Hamas headquarters where Mohammed Sinwar was killed under the “European” Hospital in Khan Yunis and declared that the military is progressing toward overthrowing Hamas.
Defrin said the group’s headquarters under the hospital was one of the central command centers for planning the October 7 invasion as well as conducting Hamas operations during the war.
Footage has shown that the underground site contained several well-outfitted rooms for senior Hamas officials, such as Sinwar, whose body the IDF on Sunday confirmed it had seized while operating in the underground tunnels.Defrin’s comments were part of the IDF’s formal rollout of photos and videos confirming Sinwar’s death and the seizure of his body, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had already previously confirmed many details.
Initially, the body was found in a tunnel along with at least 10 other bodies of terrorists. It was later brought to Israel for identification.
Sinwar was killed in an Israeli airstrike on May 13 in Khan Yunis.
In contrast, Defrin said the IDF and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since last week have provided food to millions of Gazans to maintain their health in terms of receiving sufficient food.
Thousands of Gazan houses are dangerous and boobytrapped
Next, Defrin stated that thousands of Gazan houses are booby-trapped and dangerous, and that IDF soldiers try not to go into them unless imperatively necessary.Defrin was responding to criticism of multiple recent incidents where Hamas managed to explode and cause the collapse of Gazan houses onto IDF soldiers who had entered those structures, killing numerous soldiers.
He once again insisted that soldiers did not enter Gazan structures needlessly, though he did not explain why they had entered the houses in the recent instances where they were ambushed by Hamas, adding only that the incidents are being probed.
The military campaign, which was conducted jointly with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), targeted senior Hamas figures operating in an underground command and control center.
Following that initial attack, the army struck the area where Sinwar was allegedly located a second time, with the objective of preventing the evacuation of casualties, KAN News reported.
The IDF previously said the airstrike was carried out using extensive intelligence measures aimed at preventing civilian casualties. Although the targeted command center was located beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, hospital operations were not disrupted at the time.
