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Israel Says Hamas 'Military Framework' in North Gaza Dismantled

A smoke rises following an explosion in Central Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, January 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A smoke rises following an explosion in Central Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, January 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Israel Says Hamas 'Military Framework' in North Gaza Dismantled

A smoke rises following an explosion in Central Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, January 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A smoke rises following an explosion in Central Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, January 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israeli forces have completed dismantling Hamas' "military framework" in northern Gaza and killed around 8,000 fighters in that area, a military spokesperson said on Saturday.

The military has also seized tens of thousands of weapons in that area and millions of documents, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in an online briefing. "We are now focused on dismantling Hamas in the center of and south of the (Gaza) strip."

In recent weeks, Israel has been scaling back its military assault in northern Gaza and pressing its offensive in the territory's south, where most of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster while being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video statement reiterated that “the war must not be stopped” until the objectives of eliminating Hamas, getting Israel's hostages returned and ensuring that Gaza won't be a threat to Israel are met.

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Remains of 30 People Believed Killed by ISIS Found in Syria in a Search by Qatar and FBI 

Journalist James Foley responds to questions during an interview with The Associated Press, in Boston, May 27, 2011. (AP)
Journalist James Foley responds to questions during an interview with The Associated Press, in Boston, May 27, 2011. (AP)
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Remains of 30 People Believed Killed by ISIS Found in Syria in a Search by Qatar and FBI 

Journalist James Foley responds to questions during an interview with The Associated Press, in Boston, May 27, 2011. (AP)
Journalist James Foley responds to questions during an interview with The Associated Press, in Boston, May 27, 2011. (AP)

The remains of 30 people believed to have been killed by the ISIS group have been found in a remote Syrian town in a search led by Qatari search teams and the FBI, according to a statement from Qatar on Monday.

The Qatari internal security forces said the FBI had requested the search, and that DNA tests are currently underway to determine the identities of the people. The Qatari agency did not whom the American intelligence and security agency is trying to find.

Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by ISIS militants who had controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq for half a decade. The extremist group lost most of its territory in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019.

Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people ISIS had abducted over the years.

American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig are among those killed by ISIS.

John Cantlie, a British correspondent, was abducted alongside Foley in 2012, and was last seen alive in one of the extremist group's propaganda videos in 2016.

The search took place in the town of Dabiq, near Syria's northern border with Türkiye.

Mass graves have also found in areas previously controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who was ousted in a lightning insurgency last December, ending his family's half-century rule. For years, the Assads used their notorious security and intelligence agencies to crack down on dissidents, many who have gone missing.

The United Nations in 2021 estimated that over 130,000 Syrians were taken away and disappeared during the peaceful uprising that began in 2011 and descended into a 13-year civil war.