By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) - Hamas is still capable of bombing Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the Israeli army said on Tuesday, claiming to have killed and arrested around 14,000 of its members since last Oct. 7.
“Hamas maintains the capability to attack troops in Gaza and launch rockets on Israel, including a long-range fire on Tel Aviv or Jerusalem,” the army said in a statement published on its website.
According to the military, around 14,000 Hamas members have been killed and arrested since Oct. 7, 2023.
The army said it has attacked around 37,000 targets in Gaza from the air, and more than 25,000 infrastructure sites and rocket launch locations.
According to Israeli military figures, at least 682 soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.
The Defense Ministry estimates that some 9,400 injured soldiers have been treated at its Rehabilitation Department since Oct. 7, 36% of whom suffer from psychological disorders.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
More than 38,700 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala