An Israeli senior military official has warned that Hamas may attempt to capture soldiers in Gaza in order to secure bargaining leverage, according to the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv.
The official also claimed that hundreds of attacks had been thwarted since the ceasefire began and estimated that “Israel” could be forced into another round of fighting in Gaza.
Earlier, Brigadier General Liron Betito, commander of the Israeli occupation army’s Gaza Division, said his forces had advanced further inside the enclave, claiming that the military now controls around 63 per cent of Gaza’s total territory.
According to Betito, that represents an increase of roughly 10 percentage points beyond what was stipulated under the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump.
Israeli Army Expands Forward Positions
The Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Betito as saying that the army had established around 40 new forward military positions in different areas to strengthen its deployment and further restrict the movement of Palestinian resistance factions.
He claimed that the expanded military presence was intended to provide permanent protection for Israeli settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
Betito said Israel’s current strategy also relies on establishing complete control over border crossings, which he claimed has reduced Hamas’s ability to bring military and logistical supplies into the enclave.
According to the Israeli commander, the army is working to establish forward defensive lines designed to prevent the organised movement of resistance fighters.
He added that sustained military pressure remains a central tool in efforts to weaken the organisational capabilities of Hamas’s military wing across different areas of the Gaza Strip.
Undiscovered Tunnel Networks Remain
Betito acknowledged that complex tunnel networks may still exist beneath Gaza that Israeli forces have neither discovered nor reached.
His admission comes despite Israeli claims that its forces have destroyed a substantial portion of the resistance’s command-and-control centres and rocket storage facilities during ongoing ground operations.
