Israeli troops told Hamas military wing 'defeated'

Israel's army chief has said that Israeli forces had defeated the military wing of Hamas, as he addressed troops ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attack by the Palestinian militant group.

"A year has passed, and we have defeated the military wing of Hamas... We have dealt a severe blow to Hezbollah, which has lost all of its senior leadership. "We are not stopping," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the military said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.

Mr Halevi said that Israel was fighting a lengthy war and vowed to destroy those who attack Israel.

He said: "This is a long war, measured not only by capabilities but also by the willpower and perseverance over time.

""This is a war for our right to be a free people in our land."

26 killed in strike on mosque, school

Gaza's health ministry reported earlier that an Israeli airstrike on a mosque and school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Deir al-Balah killed at least 26 people.

"The number of martyrs brought to hospitals as a result of the occupation's targeting of displaced people in the Ibn Rushd school and Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque reached 26, with several more wounded," the health ministry said in a statement.

The Gaza civil defence agency had earlier said 21 people had been killed in the pre-dawn strike in central Gaza's Deir El-Balah area.

The Israeli military claimed in a statement that it had "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre" at the mosque. It did not give any specific toll.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered when Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

Israeli army encircles Gaza's Jabaliya as Hamas rebuilds

Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya killed at least 17 people as Israeli forces said they had surrounded the area to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

The Israeli military said its forces surrounded the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza in response to indications that Hamas was rebuilding despite nearly a year of strikes and fighting.

"The troops of the 401st Brigade and the 460th Brigade have successfully encircled the area and are currently continuing to operate in the area," the military said in a statement today.

It cited intelligence suggesting the "presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area of Jabaliya... as well as efforts by Hamas to rebuild its operational capabilities in the area".

Israeli aircraft struck "dozens of military targets" in support of ground troops, it said.

Hamas-run Gaza's civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said multiple strikes rocked Jabaliya overnight.

"There are 17 martyrs, including nine children, in Israeli air strikes in Jabaliya," he said.

Israeli forces have bombarded Jabaliya regularly since the war in Gaza started, displacing almost all of its residents.

As the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 2024 approaches, listen to 'Drivetime In-Depth, War in Gaza' - available on RTÉ.ie/radio or wherever you get your podcasts: Drivetime In-Depth: War in Gaza - RTÉ Podcasts