IDF Vows Continued Gaza Operations, Focus on Minimizing Civilian Damage

 Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, on Friday said the country Israel aims to strip the terrorist group, Hamas, of all its military capabilities.

He noted that Israeli Defence Forces will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza, adding that they aim to minimize the damage to civilians.

Sharing an operational update on Saturday, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said, "Hamas terists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels, underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gaza civilians. Civilians of Gaza City evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields.... In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza City and will make extensive efforts to sorry to avoid harming civilians."

"That's the message we issued a few hours ago to Gazan civilians and the aim here is to minimize the damage to civilians. There are significant combat operations ongoing and we are preparing for future and the continuance of our combat operations and out of an understanding that there are civilians here whom are not our enemy and we do not want to target them. We are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip," he added.

He noted that it is the first such notice that Israel has issued, adding that it will take time. He stated that the aim of the evacuation is to save civilian lives, adding that the notice has been communicated to UN authorities.

Conricus said Israel's objective is to ensure that by the end of the ongoing offensive, Hamas is completely shorn of its ability to strike, harm or kill Israelis.

"As we begin the 7th day of this war against Hamas. I wish to emphasize what our aim is. Our aim is to take all of Hamas's military abilities and strip them away. At the end of this war, Our intention is that Hamas will no longer have any ability to strike or harm or kill Israeli civilians," he said.

"That is the purpose of what we're doing now inside the Gaza Strip. That is why these Israeli Air Force has been delivering significant amounts of ordinance of bombs on the Gaza Strip. And that is what we will continue to do as this war unfolds. And as we will deal a decisive blow to Hamas for the horrible heinous act," he added.

He informed further that the toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation.

"Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that's ongoing," Conricus said.

"It is a tedious and long and detailed process, taking lots of resources. We have never, ever in our history been forced to deal with such a situation and it is ongoing. It will take days and as we match and identify more and more of the Israeli bodies that are uncovered in the communities, we will have more information about missing persons," he added.

Speaking about the situation on the northern front, he said, "The northern front which we have spoken about a few times has been relatively stable over the last hours. We are on high alert on the north as we have been over the last few days with enhanced troops, vigilant watching the actions of Hezbollah and the same thing could be said about the Golan Heights that we spoke about Lebanon."

At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.