TEL AVIV, July 10. /TASS/. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset that Israeli forces have eliminated or wounded at least 60% of militants from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.

"We have eliminated or wounded 60% of Hamas terrorists. We have broken up all 24 Hamas battalions or the overwhelming majority of [formations]. We have returned half of the hostages and we are determined to return the rest. Security services are determined to achieve the goals of the war," Yedioth Ahronoth quoted him as saying.

On May 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had eliminated 20 out of 24 enemy battalions. Another four were supposed to be targeted during a military operation in Rafah. On July 2, Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said that during the operation in Rafah, Israeli troops eliminated over 900 Palestinian radicals.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria, followed by a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.