Hamas terrorists are ‘losing their grip’ on Gaza amid Israeli onslaught, IDF spokesman claims

Hamas terrorists are “losing their grip” on Gaza as a result of the Israeli army’s attack, a senior IDF spokesman told the Mail today.

Civil disobedience, looting and unprecedented criticism of Hamas on social media show that Hamas’s control in Gaza is slipping, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, the IDF’s international spokesman, said in an exclusive briefing.

“Our assessment is that their command functions and their ability to effectively conduct military operations while controlling the population are being tested,” he said.

“And their ability to do that is limited – they haven’t been completely conquered yet. They still have some control and influence, but it is far from what they would like and a far cry from what was there a month ago.”

He said in addition to the civil unrest and looting, “Public resentment is visible on social media, where people express their feelings toward Hamas about how disappointed they are, how challenged.

“From what they say, it feels like they have been abandoned by Hamas, with civilians being exposed to the horrors of the fighting as Hamas has moved into the bunkers and tunnels.

“But in terms of control, our troop presence on the ground and the progress we have made in the heart of Gaza City constitute Hamas’ ability to exert control and power.

“Our goal is to disrupt their ability to conduct combat operations and sustain themselves. We do this by attacking their strongholds and infrastructure, wherever they are.

“We have dismantled more than fifteen company- and battalion-sized Hamas strongholds.”

He denied that the IDF attacked hospitals, even Al Shifa, which the Israelis claim is located above Hamas’s massive command and control bunker.

He said Israel told the hospital’s manager and senior staff that they could evacuate to the east of the hospital and denied laying siege to Al Shifa.

He added: “But we have troops around it, and of course we are putting pressure on Hamas fighters. ‘

Asked about an Israeli offer to move up to 40 babies to safety in a neonatal unit, he said: “It is a complicated medical maneuver, even in peacetime, to move babies in this way, but we understand the sensitivity.

“We want these babies and other non-combatants to be spared and not affected by the fighting, and hopefully we will be able to achieve that and we are working on it now.”

Lt. Col. Conricus’ words came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was doing “everything in its power” to keep civilians in hospitals.

He said the terrorist group was deliberately trying to “endanger them” and added that an Israeli offer to supply fuel to the hospital had been rejected by the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

But Melanie Ward, director of the group Medical Aid for Palestinians, questioned how the evacuation of babies from Al Shifa could be carried out safely.

“The transfer of critically ill newborns is a complex and technical process,” Ward said.

‘With no ambulances being able to reach the hospital… and no hospital with the capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely.’

For days, Al-Shifa officials have said dozens of bodies have been left near the hospital and in the courtyard.

Al Shifa and another major organization, Al-Quds, announced that they were ceasing their activities. More people are being killed and injured every day, but there are fewer and fewer places for the injured to go.

A plastic surgeon at Shifa Hospital said the bombing of the building housing the incubators had forced them to place premature babies on regular beds, heating up the air conditioning with the little power available.

“We know this is very risky,” said Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati. “We expect to lose more by the day.”

Palestinian officials said Friday that 11,078 Gaza residents have since been killed in air and artillery strikes, about 40% of them children.

The disease is spreading among evacuees confined to schools and other shelters and surviving on small amounts of food and water, international aid agencies say.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that 13 people were killed yesterday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Residents also reported increased fighting around the Al-Shati refugee camp, on the coast of northern Gaza. The IDF said it had killed a number of militants there and called on civilians to use a four-hour break to evacuate south.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, escalated its attacks on northern Israel, firing anti-tank missiles at electricity workers, wounding several of them, one seriously, Israel said. The attack was followed by tit-for-tat exchanges between the IDF and Hezbollah, with the Israelis firing artillery and airstrikes while the terrorists fired rockets and mortars.

The escalation followed a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last weekend in which he threatened to increase the number and severity of weapons targeted at Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened Hezbollah, saying: “What we can do in Gaza, we can do in Beirut.”

Five US service members were killed in the eastern Mediterranean when a routine refueling training exercise went wrong, the Pentagon said last night.