IDF Say Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Is 'Surrounded In His Bunker'

While NASA satellites have detected multiple fires across Gaza City in the last 48 hours, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant reported that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar "surrounded in his bunker... without contact from his associates".

As part of its on-the-ground assault on Hamas, the proscribed terrorist group that has governed Gaza since 2007, Israeli forces have pushed deep into Gaza City.

Gaza City was once home to a huge 590,281 residents and is situated in the north of the besieged enclave.

According to Gallant, the force has been operating "in the heart" of the city and is "tightening the noose" around Hamas.

Gallant went on to note that Israel's troops had stormed Hamas stronghold, "from all directions, in perfect co-ordination with maritime and aerial forces".

Israel's right-wing Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also said: "In the south, the war is moving forward with force that Hamas has never seen... Gaza City is surrounded. We are operating within it, we are deepening the pressure on Hamas every hour, every day."

IDF Major General Yaron Finkelman also clarified: "For the first time in decades, IDF is fighting in the heart of Gaza City. At the heart of terrorism."

"Every day and every hour the forces are killing militants, exposing tunnels and destroying weapons and continuing onward to enemy centres," he added.

In response to the reports of Israeli success, the military wing of Hamas said that its fighters have been inflicting heavy losses and damage on the advancing Israeli troops.

While it has not been possible to verify the recent battlefield claims from either side, the IDF released the names of 348 Israeli soldiers who have been killed since Hamas' October 7 massacre.

Israel has confirmed that its troops have successfully "eliminated" more than 1,600 Hamas members since the country formerly declared war on Gaza.

The IDF also claim that it has successfully "eliminated" Mohsen Abu Zina, the leading developer of weapons that were distributed to Hamas, in other words, the Hamas Head of Weapons and Industries.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the Israeli force wrote: "He served as one of Hamas' leading weapon developers, with expertise in strategic weapons and rockets and his department facilitated the arming of Hamas in the current conflict."

"We continue to operate in Gaza to eliminate Hamas," the force added.

This news comes after Israel announced that it had opened an additional evacuation corridor to facilitate the safe movement of Palestinian civilians from the north to the south of the strip.

According to the Israeli authorities, around 800,000 people have moved through the new passage.

Since Israel vowed to rid the Gaza Strip of Hamas, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that IDF airstrikes have killed more than 10,000 people.

With almost 50 per cent of Gaza's original population, more than two million people, being made up of children, more than 4,800 of the fatalities have been children.

Today, despite mounting international pressure on Israel to halt hostilities and to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire, Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said: "There will be no humanitarian truce without the return of abductees."

According to the IDF, there are currently around 240 people being held by Hamas in its notorious tunnel network.

Nine-month-old baby Kfir has been named as one of the youngest unaccounted-for children who was seized by Hamas and taken into Gaza.

According to family members, the young child was taken alongside his four-year-old brother Ariel.

Images of the infants have been shown at pro-Israel protests, that call for the return of civilians to Israel, across Europe.