JERUSALEM — Israel said it had tightened its grip on Hamas strongholds across Gaza with heavy airstrikes and ground fighting overnight Sunday, as its forces raced to deliver a decisive blow to the militant group before international outrage over civilian deaths and a humanitarian collapse compels it to ease its attacks.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck more than 250 sites across Gaza and was “fighting fiercely” in Khan Younis, the largest southern city, and in the northern neighborhoods of Shejaiya and Jabalya. The attacks have forced tens of thousands of displaced civilians into overwhelmed pockets near the Egyptian border and driven Gaza’s medical systems into “catastrophe,” according to the World Health Organization.
IDF officials said Hamas was beginning to buckle under the onslaught. Recent leaked videos of captured Gazans — stripped to their underwear, in some cases blindfolded and with hands bound — were cited as evidence in Israel that the group’s fighters had begun to surrender. Gazans, however, described seeing family members and children among the detainees who had no connection to Hamas.
The IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said during a Hanukkah candle-lighting for troops that the events were “a sign of the disintegration of the system, a sign that we need to push harder.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed directly to militants to abandon their leaders. “It’s over. Don’t die for Sinwar. Surrender now,” he said in a video statement, referring to top Hamas commander Yehiya Sinwar.
The videos sparked outrage among rights groups, which said that parading stripped prisoners could amount to mistreatment under international law and that the lineups seemed to include noncombatants.
Israel said forcing captives to undress was a standard security precaution to detect concealed weapons and explosives and that those determined not to be fighters would be released.
“We found those images deeply disturbing and we are seeking more information,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.
In recent weeks, the IDF has detained an unknown number of Gazan civilians without charge. While some are released within hours, others have disappeared, families told The Washington Post.
The IDF said its attacks have killed about 5,000 Hamas fighters, out of a force estimated to number as many as 40,000. About half of the group’s battalion and company commanders are dead, officials said, although Sinwar and other key leaders are still in charge, believed to be hiding out in the south.
