How Goes The War

"Hamas's end is near. For your future."

"Anyone who can present information that could help us arrest the individuals who brought destruction and ruins to the Gaza Strip will be rewarded."

Israel Defense Forces

"[Jerusalem cannot comment on the] various intelligence means [used to keep tabs on Sinwar and other terrorists]."

"We certainly will continue making every effort to bring them to justice and to get our hands on all of the monsters responsible for the October 7 massacre."

Israeli PMO spokesman Eylon Levy

Palestinian fighters hold weapons above their heads as they surrender near the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo by Israeli Army/ AFP via Getty Images

During an operation in the northern Gaza Strip, in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, some 70 terrorists with Hamas surrendered to Israeli forces, laying down their weapons in the process. Soldiers had located a building  used by Hamas operatives and a 'military' officer and after a fight the terrorists were killed. In Gaza City Shejaiya neighbourhood and Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip battles continue to rage, the IDF reporting "many terrorists" killed.

Soldiers searched a school complex in Shejaiya "that served as a central focus of the fighting of the Hamas Shejaiya Battalion" and proceeded to destroy the compound's infrastructure, as well as engaging with the Hamas operatives there as well. IDF soldiers discovered weapons and grenades in the Khan Yunis area where they destroyed two tunnel shafts, a rocket launch pit, and a weapons warehouse.

Terrorist infrastructure was demolished by the IDF near the Jabalia refugee camp, and weapons were located and destroyed. A Hamas sniper identified by ground forces was eliminated by a helicopter gunship. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continue to fire rockets into Israel, leading to warning sirens sounding in border communities.

The death toll for Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operations in the Gaza Strip began on October 27 rose to 116 with the death of Maj. Elisha Levinshtern, 38, killed in action. Since the conflict began on October 7 -- that fateful day when terrorists and ordinary Palestinian civilians flooded across the broken border from Gaza into southern Israel to attack border towns and villages, slaughtering at will, raping and mutilating, taking hostages back into Gaza -- a total of 445 Israeli troops have perished.

 

Flyers dropped by the IDF detailing rewards for information on Hamas leaders' whereabouts, December 14, 2023

(photo credit: according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law)

The Israel Defense Forces dropped flyers in the coastal enclave, urging Palestinians to  help remove Hamas from the enclave's leadership, promising up to $400,000 in reward money for information leading to the apprehension of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar; $300,000 for intelligence on his brother, commander Muhammad Sinwar; $200,000 for information on Rafa'a Salameh, commander of the Khan Yunis Battalion; and $100,000 for information leading to Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades 'military' wing.

 

The reward-offering flyers promised strict confidentiality, included an Israeli telephone number to call, and the username of an account on the Telegram messaging app. IDF troops last week had surrounded the residence in Gaza of Sinwar, believed to live in Khan Yunis in the southern Strip. "His house is not a fortress and he can escape but it's only a matter of time before we get to him", Prime Minister Netanyahu promised.

Thought to be one of the masterminds of the October 7 savagery that devastated southern Israel kibbutzim and a music festival with some three thousand young Israeli attendees where the terrorists ran down fleeing festival-goers, mass rape took place, and hundreds were slaughtered, it is felt that Sinwar who eluded capture last week, may attempt an escape into Egypt through entry points under mosques.

The Hamas Religious Endowment Ministry ordered the opening of mosques to accept displaced persons, a slight diversion from their usual use as storage areas for caches of military weaponry. Those corridors, it is feared, could provide Sinwar with an escape route, along with other senior Hamas leadership members.

"Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil", said IDF International Spokesperson Lt.Col. Richard Hecht, who informed journalists that Sinwar and his entire command team were in Israel's sights.

Yahya Sinwar Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)