As pressure mounts on Israel to reduce its catastrophic military bombardment in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Wednesday, December 20, that it had found a significant Hamas command center in the town center.
Vow to Carry Out Attack
In a report by The Associated Press, IDF claimed it had discovered the center of Hamas' huge subterranean network for moving weapons, militants, and supplies throughout Gaza. Israel says eliminating the tunnels is a primary offensive goal.
The news came out as the head of Hamas landed in Egypt for negotiations regarding a temporary truce and a new agreement whereby Hamas would exchange Israeli prisoners for Palestinians held by Israel.
Notably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the assault in response to Hamas' October 7 cross-border invasion that killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240 individuals.
Israel's attack has destroyed most of northern Gaza, killed approximately 20,000 Palestinians, and displaced 1.9 million people (about 85% of its population). International demands for a cease-fire have grown due to significant devastation and human deaths.
There has been recent strong resistance by Hamas militants against Israeli ground soldiers, and it seems that their forces are mostly undamaged in southern Gaza. It also launches missiles into Israel daily.
Israel's closest ally, the US, has supported Israel's right to defend itself and urged stronger civilian protection in Gaza. On Wednesday, however, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to reduce the scope of its operation.
"It's clear that the conflict will move and needs to move to a lower intensity phase," said Blinken. According to him, the US prefers more concentrated operations with smaller groups of troops aimed against particular objectives, such as the tunnel network and Hamas' top brass.
"As that happens, I think you'll see as well, the harm done to civilians also decreases significantly," he added, as reported by The Associated Press.
Gaza Facing Humanitarian Catastrophe
Throughout Gaza, mobile phone and internet access were down once again on Wednesday. Hamas commanders within the region who went into hiding after the October 7 attack may find it more difficult to communicate due to the outage.
There is a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as a result of the conflict. There is a severe lack of food, medication, and other necessities, forcing tens of thousands of people into overcrowded shelters and makeshift camps.
The Israeli foreign minister visited Cyprus to have talks on opening a maritime corridor to facilitate the shipment of massive quantities of humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
According to Munir al-Bursh, a senior official from Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 46 people were killed and over 100 injured when Israel bombed the urban Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City early Wednesday.
Another attack damaged three residential dwellings and a mosque in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Wednesday, injuring scores and killing at least five people, according to health authorities.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is under Hamas's control, said earlier this week that the number of casualties since the conflict began had exceeded 20,000. It does not differentiate between the fatalities of civilians and those of soldiers.
Meanwhile, the ground battle in Gaza has claimed the lives of 134 Israeli troops, according to IDF. Also, it claims that Hamas is responsible for the murders of civilians in Gaza because the group employs them as human shields in its fighting in residential areas.
