IDF: Gaza City is encircled, ceasefire is not on the table

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

IDF troops operate in northern Gaza on November 1, 2023. (IDF)
IDF troops operate in northern Gaza on November 1, 2023. (IDF)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says ground forces have completely surrounded Gaza City.

“Our troops have completed the encirclement of Gaza City, the center of Hamas activity,” Hagari says in a press conference.

He says Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — who lives in Qatar — is due to visit Iran in his private jet.

“They are trying to divert us from focusing on Gaza, we are focused on Hamas,” he says, after Iran-backed terror groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, have stepped up attacks on Israel.

Asked about a potential ceasefire, Hagari says “the term ‘ceasefire’ is not at all on the table at the moment.”

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