Gaza fighting 'exhausted', Israel security sources say
Gaza fighting 'exhausted', Israel security sources say
The Israeli security sources said that Hamas's brigades in Rafah "almost no longer exist" meaning that there were very few targets left
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Israel is waging a brutal war on the devastated Gaza Strip [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty]
Israel's war on Gaza has been "exhausted" with practically no more targets, two Israeli security sources have told Israel's public broadcaster Kan.
However, the sources said Israel can "return and enter the strip again when new intelligence information is available, but in general the Israeli army's operations in Gaza have finished".
Kan reported that the army informed politicians in recent days that Hamas's Rafah brigade "has been defeated" and "almost no longer exists". Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the southernmost city in Gaza.
The Israeli security establishment has informed the political leadership that "the time has come to conclude a prisoner [exchange] deal, as most of Hamas's combat units have been dismantled".
It comes as the New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that Tel Aviv had realised everything it could militarily in the Palestinian enclave, citing high-level US officials.
Israel's war on Gaza, which began more than 10 months ago, has killed at least 40,074 people, according to the coastal strip's health ministry.
Mediators held talks in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday and Friday aimed at reaching a deal for a ceasefire in the war and the release of Israeli and Palestinian captives.
Hamas did not attend the negotiations.
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar issued a joint statement saying senior officials from their three governments would "reconvene in Cairo before the end of next week with the aim to conclude the deal" under terms proposed on Friday.
US President Joe Biden said a Gaza truce was nearer after the negotiations but a senior Hamas official on Saturday dismissed his optimistic talk.
"To say that we are getting close to a deal is an illusion," Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
"We are not facing a deal or real negotiations, but rather the imposing of American diktats."
Abu Zuhri was responding to Biden's comment on Friday that "we are closer than we have ever been".
Agencies contributed to this report.
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