Israel says Hamas leader trapped in bunker as its troops battle militant group in Gaza City

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Israel said on Tuesday that its forces were operating deep in Gaza City in their battle to wipe out Hamas in the Palestinian enclave and that the Islamist militant group's leader was trapped inside a bunker.

Gaza residents said earlier that Israeli tanks were positioned on the outskirts of Gaza City, Hamas's stronghold in the north of the territory and home to about one-third of its 2.3 million people before the hostilities.

Israel previously said it had surrounded Gaza City and would soon attack it to annihilate Hamas fighters who assaulted Israeli towns across the border one month ago.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli soldiers were operating in the heart of Gaza City. Hamas's most senior leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was isolated in his bunker, Gallant said in a televised news conference.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) "came from the north and the south. They stormed it in full co-ordination between land, air and sea forces," Gallant said.

"They are manoeuvring on foot, armoured vehicles and tanks, along with military engineers from all directions, and they have one target: Hamas terrorists in Gaza, their infrastructure, their commanders, bunkers, communication rooms. They are tightening the noose around Gaza City."

He said that below the city there were kilometres of tunnels that ran under schools and hospitals and that housed weapons depots, communication rooms and hideouts for militants.

"Gaza City is encircled, we are operating inside it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement. "We are increasing pressure on Hamas every hour, every day. So far, we have killed thousands of terrorists, above ground and below ground."

The Israeli military said Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli forces from nearby hospitals and that soldiers found weapons hidden in a school in northern Gaza.

The military wing of Hamas, which has ruled the small, densely populated enclave for 16 years, said its fighters were inflicting heavy losses and damage on advancing Israeli forces. It had no immediate comment on the possible fate of Sinwar, the Hamas leader.

It was not possible to verify the battlefield claims of either side.

The war — the bloodiest episode in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict — broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas fighters burst across the fence enclosing Gaza and killed 1,400 Israelis, including several Canadians, and abducted more than 200, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel has bombarded the coastal territory relentlessly, killing more than 10,000 people, about 40 per cent of them children, according to counts by Gaza health officials.