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Footage leaked Saturday from the northern Gaza Strip showed an apparent Hamas operative handing over an assault rifle while surrendering with dozens of Palestinian men to Israeli troops, as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military was beginning to see the collapse of the terror group’s governing system in the coastal enclave.
In the video, the man can be seen slowly walking past a tank while holding the gun and magazine over his head, before placing them on the ground.
The other Palestinians, who like him are clad only in underwear, hold up their identification cards as they stand across the street from the tank, and a soldier shouts orders in Arabic over a megaphone.
“Slowly, slowly,” the soldier tells the man with the assault rifle.
Images had circulated on social media earlier this week showing dozens of men being detained by the Israel Defense Forces. The army’s spokesman later said it was interrogating everyone in the area who had surrendered after the fighting.
Hamas operatives have increasingly been surrendering to the IDF in other areas of Gaza amid the ongoing fighting, according to military officials.
“I see the achievements every day. We are seeing every day more and more terror operatives killed, more and more terror operatives wounded, and in recent days we’re seeing terrorists surrendering — a sign of the disintegration of the system, a sign that we need to push harder,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said at a Hanukkah candle lighting in the south with Nahal Brigade troops.
Leaked footage from the northern Gaza Strip today shows an apparent Hamas operative slowly placing an assault rifle on the ground, as dozens of Palestinian men surrendered to IDF troops. pic.twitter.com/glEbGBj50i
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
Later, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed many Hamas members surrendered Saturday to troops in Gaza, saying they revealed intelligence information on the terror group’s functioning amid the ground offensive.
“In Shejaiya and Jabaliya, terrorists who surrendered handed over weapons and equipment,” he said, confirming the leaked video.
“From the interrogations of the terrorists who surrendered, the following intelligence has emerged: The situation of the operatives on the ground is difficult, and the Hamas leadership, led by [Yahya] Sinwar, denies the reality even though it is updated on the details,” Hagari said.
“The operatives complain that the Hamas leadership is out of touch with the tough situation they are in on the ground,” he added.
Hagari said there was a “widespread feeling that the Hamas leadership underground does not care about the public in Gaza who are above ground,” adding that this also worries the Hamas operatives.
“The intelligence that emerges from the interrogations creates more targets and aids us in the operational activity,” Hagari added.
Also Saturday, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar fled northern Gaza at the beginning of the war by hiding in a humanitarian convoy heading southward.
Citing an Israeli official familiar with the details, the report said Sinwar escaped Gaza City and headed toward south Gaza’s Khan Younis in a vehicle that provided “humanitarian cover.” More precise details about the vehicle were barred from publication, according to the broadcaster.
The report said Israel assessed that Sinwar was still in Khan Younis, or rather in one of the tunnels that run underneath it.
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