Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed on Tuesday that Hamas has lost control in northern Gaza, including in Gaza City.
“You’ve seen Golani troops sitting in Gaza’s Parliament. This is significant. I can tell you that in the northern Gaza Strip Hamas has lost control. In fact, we are in control of the entire area above and below ground in the northern Gaza Strip, and especially in Gaza City,” Gallant said at a news conference, referring to the IDF's Golani Brigade.
“We’re in the second stage of the war in Gaza. In the first stage, we struck with full force, and in the second stage, over the last two weeks, we’ve been operating with multiple forces inside Gaza City. We breached the defensive lines and the barricades from the north and the south,” he added.
Ground operations will continue, the defense minister said, and the Israeli army will “keep advancing, both today and over the next days, in order to fulfill the tasks in accordance with the cabinet’s directives."