TARGET IS TO ANNIHILATE HAMAS: IDF SPOKESPERSON

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

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In an exclusive interview with NewsX, he said that Israeli Defence Forces will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza, adding that they aim to minimise the damage to civilians.

Sharing an operational update on Friday, 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 minimise 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.