Haaretz: Israel Presenting ‘False Picture’ of War

TEHRAN -- An opinion article published on the Israeli Haaretz website says that the spokesperson for the Israeli army and the military analysts are presenting a “false picture of the thousands of Hamas dead and the face-to-face fight being waged.”

According to the article, which cites “information received from soldiers and officers fighting in the Gaza Strip,” the number of Hamas members killed by Israeli forces is much lower than what is being presented.
“It’s clear that the IDF spokesman and senior defense officials want to depict the war as a great victory before the picture becomes clear…but creating images of victory before we have even gotten close to achieving our goals could prove very damaging if those goals,” the article continues.
The article adds: “Many officers fighting in Gaza have told me that it will be very hard, if not impossible, to prevent Hamas from rebuilding itself, even after all the destruction the IDF has wreaked on its bases.”
The Israeli army said on Tuesday that 40 of its soldiers have been wounded in the past 24 hours, according to Israeli media.
The army added that five of them are in serious condition.
An additional 874 soldiers have been wounded since the start of the Zionist regime’s ground invasion in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian sources, however, say the Israeli losses are much higher.
Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, said in a message to the group’s members outside of the territory on Monday that resistance fighters are inflicting heavy losses on the Israeli military and will not submit to their conditions.
In a letter shared by Al Jazeera Arabic, Sinwar reassured the Palestinian group’s leadership abroad about the armed wing’s achievement after two-and-a-half months of Zionist bombing and ground invasion.
He said that 5,000 Zionist soldiers and officers have been killed and wounded since the ground invasion began in late October.
One-third of them, around 1,660, were killed, he said, while the rest have been permanently disabled or seriously wounded.
The Israeli military claims 156 soldiers have been killed in ground combat so far, and 600 more have been wounded.
However, Israeli media outlets have reported a significantly higher number of wounded soldiers, citing discrepancies between figures provided by the military and cases documented by hospitals.
Hamas says the Zionist regime is terrorizing civilians in the Gaza Strip over its military defeat in the enclave.
“Whenever the Nazi army is defeated in front of the heroes of the resistance, it practices its terrorism against defenseless civilians with the help of [U.S. President Joe] Biden,” senior Hamas member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement Monday.
Israeli forces attacked different locations in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday, with more than 30 people reported killed and tens of others still missing.
“The situation is tragic. I did not expect to wake up alive. They have continually bombarded all over block 112. We grasped each other’s hands and stayed in bed, awaiting a missile to kill us together,” Yasmin, a 23-year-old, from block 108 told Middle East Eye.
“They asked people to flee from block 112, but the bombardment was all over Khan Younis. They bombed the house of Ramy Ismail at Al-Madrase St, killing him and six of his family members. They also killed members of the Abu-Zarqa and Alnajjar families, as well as the Shaheen

 

 family. There is nowhere safe,” she added.

Local residents in Khan Younis have said Zionist forces have been targeting civilians while on their way to collect firewood in the centre of Khan Younis.

“Yesterday morning, one person was killed, the second was wounded, while the third, a 10-year-old, is missing. We cannot find his body. They were all targeted by a quadcopter. Despite not being able to see the Israeli tanks, the quadcopter targets anyone who approaches the area there,” Yasmin explained.

Families being forced to flee to Rafah are doing so with no access to transport, while temperatures drop significantly.

Witnesses on the ground told MEE that families also have no access to food, sanitation facilities or toilets, leaving them no choice but to endure bombardment rather than relocate.

At least 20,915 people have been martyred by Israel and 54,918 wounded since October 7, according to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, in figures published on Tuesday. 

Moreover, the statement said 241 people had been martyred in the past 24 hours, while 382 were wounded in the same time frame.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that their teams came under Israeli bombardment while they were transferring dead bodies from the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza.

Over 160 people were martyred on Sunday evening into Monday morning in the camp, after Israeli airstrikes struck the residential area.

Emergency service teams are still trying to retrieve bodies from under the rubble.

Paltel, one of Gaza’s main telecommunication providers, said on Tuesday that internet and phone services are down.

“We regret to announce a complete breakdown of fixed telecommunications and internet services in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing offensive,” the company said.