INTO OBLIVION
‘It’s over, surrender now’ Israel PM warns Hamas as more ‘terror suspects’ rounded up and net closes on Gaza’s Bin Laden
Hamas has warned not a single hostage would leave Gaza alive until its demands are met
ISRAEL'S PM has told Hamas "It's over - surrender now" as pictures show dozens more terror suspects being stripped and rounded up in trucks.
In a television address on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu said that it is now the "beginning of the end" for Hamas as Israel is closing down on its number one target dubbed "Gaza's Bin Laden".
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Speaking in Hebrew, Mr Netanyahu asked Hamas terrorists to lay down their weapons as their end was near.
He said: "The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas.
“I say to the Hamas terrorists - it’s over.
"Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now.
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"In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces. They are laying down their weapons and handing themselves over to our heroic fighters."
The IDF has claimed Hamas fighters had been surrendering close to Gaza City in the heavily bombed Shajaiya and Jabaliya neighbourhoods.
Lt Gen Herzi Halevi told his troops last night that the Hamas network was beginning to collapse.
"We are seeing every day more and more terror operatives killed, more and more terror operatives wounded," he said.
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"And in recent days we’re seeing terrorists surrendering — a sign of the disintegration of the system, a sign that we need to push harder."
The signs of Hamas' possible breakdown came as unverified further footage circulated online of dozens of "terror suspects" bound, stripped and lined up next to heavily armed IDF soldiers and tanks.
One barefoot man is seen handing over an assault rifle to Israeli troops with his hands in the air, while others behind him hold up their identification cards.
"Slowly, slowly," an IDF soldier shouts at the man holding the gun as he walks barefoot over rubble next to an Israeli tank.
The footage came only two days after Israel said it had captured hundreds of Hamas terrorists and released extraordinary footage that appeared to show suspects sitting in the middle of the street - stripped, restrained, and blindfolded.
Hamas alleged that all the men were unarmed, innocent civilians, however, Israel has said it will interrogate all those who surrender to troops with potential links to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hamas has warned not a single hostage would leave Gaza alive until their demands are met.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a separate TV broadcast on Sunday: "Neither the fascist enemy and its arrogant leadership, nor its supporters can take their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance."
Meanwhile, Israel's military says it is closing in on Hamas' top terror chief, Yahya Sinwar, who they believe is holed up underground in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Last Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF surrounded Sinwar's house, but that he wasn't there.
He vowed: "He can run and hide but we will get him."
"Gaza's Bin Laden", 61, is understood to be the "mastermind" behind the October 7 attacks, which saw the terror group slaughter 1,200 men, women, and children.
In a tell-all interview with The Sun, IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said Sinwar was "at the top" of their "kill list".
“He is the person that financed [October 7], organised it, planned it, and gave the green light to go and kill and butcher, massacre, abduct, rape and behead Israelis.
"He’s at the top of our list. We intend on catching up with him and killing him in action."
He vowed to root out every last terrorist and claimed that Sinwar and henchmen are hiding like "cowards" underneath Gaza using civilians as human shields.
It comes as a senior defence official has claimed that the Israeli military needs at least another two months to complete the first stage of its war against Hamas.
However, official sources in Washington said that US President Joe Biden has given Israel only until the end of the year to wrap up its devastating offensive inside war-torn Gaza.
Today, the IDF claimed to have struck 22,000 Hamas targets in Gaza since the start of the war, and 3,500 since the end of their temporary truce with the terror group.
Israeli tanks have today battled their way into the heart of Khan Younis in a major new push.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to Gaza's second-largest city to escape the carnage in the north and are now trapped within the intensifying fighting.
The Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza say Israel has killed more than 17,700 people in its relentless bombardment and offensive campaign, including more than 7,000 children.
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On Friday night, the US vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Palestinians are facing what the UN chief described as a "humanitarian nightmare".
UN officials have urgently warned the conditions are "hell on earth" with the majority of its 2.3million population unable to access food, water or medicine.
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