Israeli army declares attack on entire Gaza Strip

The British news agency Reuters reported on December 4 that in a statement to reporters in Tel Aviv on December 3, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF, Israeli army), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said that the IDF continued to expand its ground operations targeting the centers of the Hamas Islamist movement throughout the Gaza Strip. According to Mr. Hagari, the Israeli army is facing what he called "terrorists" and will "destroy" them.

Also at this press conference, Rear Admiral Hagari affirmed that Israel had no connection with the two ships attacked by Yemen's Houthi movement on December 3. Mr. Hagari stated: "The missiles on December 3 targeted two commercial ships that have no connection with the state of Israel... One ship was seriously damaged and in danger of sinking, the other ship was slightly damaged." According to Mr. Hagari, freedom of navigation by ship is becoming dangerous in this part of the world and it is necessary to see how the world reacts to this issue.

In a development related to the war in Gaza and the effort to eliminate Hamas, Israel's Kan television broadcast an audio recording of the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, saying that Israel would hunt down Hamas in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon even if it took years. It is unclear when or to whom the statement was made. The Shin Bet declined to comment on the information.