Israel claims “victory” over Hamas amid prisoner swap

Israel claimed “victory” over Hamas ahead of preparations for the prisoner and hostage exchange between the Palestinian militant group and Israel, The New Arab plus agencies reported on October 12th.

In reference to Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir stated: “We [Israel] are reshaping the face of the Middle East and our security strategy for the years to come.”

This statement echoed a previous statement from Zamir, in which he had said: “We [Israel] are changing the reality throughout the Middle East, on all fronts. We are not containing ourselves; we are attacking and destroying the enemy [Hamas] on every front.”

Around 300,000 displaced Palestinians have returned to their homes in the Gaza Strip, where it is estimated that more than 290,000 homes have either been partially or entirely destroyed by Israeli strikes since October 2023.

95% of hospitals in Gaza are non-functional as a result of repeated Israeli attacks, while it was reported on September 25th that Doctors in one of the remaining functioning hospitals in Gaza City were overwhelmed by casualties due to Israeli strikes.

The situation in Gaza was described as a “slaughterhouse” by Australian doctors, where there was “mass casualty after mass casualty”.

Saya Aziz, an anaesthetist, said that while working in Gaza, she saw “torn, disintegrated bodies, blood, broken heads, broken arms, chopped limbs — not just chopped, like disintegrated.”

It is estimated that more than 64,700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel started its war on Gaza on October 7th, 2023; however, former Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi believes that the number of Palestinians killed or wounded by Israel could be more than 200,000.

One out of every 10 Gazans has either been killed or wounded during Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, while four out of every 100 children have lost either one or both of their parents.

On July 15th, the UN-sponsored Global Protection Cluster reported that every day, at least 10 children in Gaza were losing one or both limbs, with many undergoing amputations without any form of pain relief due to shortages of medical supplies caused by Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Children in Gaza have also been denied education for the third consecutive year, as it is estimated that 788,000 students have not been in education since October 2023 due to Israeli strikes damaging 352 public schools, while 111 schools have been completely destroyed.

A UN Commission of Inquiry came to the conclusion on September 16th that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza; the report cited large-scale killings, obstruction of aid, forced displacement and destruction of a fertility clinic.

Navi Pillay, the head of the commission and ex-International Criminal Court (ICC) judge, said: “The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza.”

The New Arab plus agencies, Maghrebi.org