IDF says it’s started fighting Hamas in new areas of Gaza City

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

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military is beginning to fight Hamas in the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, adjacent to Shejaiya, as it nears the end of the ground offensive in northern Gaza, with most of the terror group’s battalions in the area dismantled.

On the Hamas tunnel network found hidden beneath Palestine Square in Gaza City, Hagari says “senior Hamas members managed the fighting on October 7 [from the area].”

“From this infrastructure, they were able to spread across Gaza. From the heart of Gaza City, senior Hamas officials were able to reach Shifa Hospital, leave there in an ambulance to travel south, and return to Shifa Hospital, enter the [tunnel] network, and go north to Rantisi Hospital,” he says.

Speaking on new details of a probe into the mistaken killing of three hostages in Gaza last week, Hagari says a video obtained from an army canine which recorded the hostages calling for help, but was found only after their deaths, will be soon shown to the families.

He says that when the investigation into the incident is complete, “we will present it to the families — all the materials, including the video.”

“We owe it to the families, the investigation and the truth,” Hagari adds.

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