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Israel Has Killed 17,000 Terrorists in Gaza Since Start of War, IDF Says
Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The Israeli military has killed 17,000 terrorists in Gaza since the beginning of the war against Hamas on Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“IDF forces continue to fight in Gaza — in Rafah, Khan Yunis, the central Strip, and are attacking everywhere,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters during a briefing on Thursday night. “So far, we have eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists.”
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza, launched the war with its invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped some 250 hostages while committing mass atrocities, including widespread sexual violence.
Israel repelled the surprise invasion and responded with weeks of airstrikes before launching a ground offensive in neighboring Gaza on Oct. 27. According to Israeli leaders, the main goals of the ongoing military campaign in the enclave are to free the hostages and dismantle Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
Hamas leaders have vowed to carry out attacks on Israel similar to the Oct. 7 massacre “again and again.”
“The significant combat and the ensuing high accomplishments impede Hamas’ ability to raise its head again and rebuild itself, and we are determined to keep this up,” Hagari told reporters.
Hamas and Israeli officials have both said that Hamas has about 35,000 armed fighters in Gaza, although other terrorist groups in the enclave, primarily Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have also been fighting the IDF.
In May, Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, disclosed that the IDF had at that time eliminated 14,000 terrorists. Government spokesman Avi Hyman also revealed that Israeli forces had killed “sadly around 16,000 civilians” in Gaza.
“We would expect everyone to now take these figures as a genuine estimate from a free democratic country that fights in strict accordance with the laws of armed conflict in one of the most challenging urban warfare scenarios in history,” Hyman told Fox News. “Let me make it clear: Every civilian casualty is a tragedy. That would not have happened if Hamas hadn’t insisted on using their own people as human shields.”
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the IDF.
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’ widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
“Israel is setting the new gold standard for urban warfare with what appears to be the lowest civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio in history,” Hyman said in May.
Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza say about 40,000 Palestinians have died during Israel’s campaign. Experts have cast doubt on the reliability of casualty figures coming out of Gaza, in part because they do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Beyond rank-and-file terrorists, Israel has also killed several of Hamas’ leaders during the war. Last month, the IDF said it had eliminated half of Hamas’ military leadership in Gaza.
However, the terrorist group’s top leader and the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar, is still alive. Israeli Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus told Channel 12 news in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the IDF was “minutes away” from capturing Sinwar in a tunnel underneath Gaza.
Israel has said that Sinwar is “marked for death” as the architect of the Oct. 7 attack, which was orchestrated along with Hamas military wing commander Muhammad Deif, who was killed by the IDF last month.
Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Iran two weeks ago. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the killing. Sinwar, who had been Hamas’ chief in Gaza, was picked to succeed Haniyeh as the terrorist group’s overall leader.
In June, Netanyahu said that the intense combat in Gaza was winding down and that the IDF would deploy more troops to Israel’s border with Lebanon, where the terrorist group Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel almost daily since October.
Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran, which provides the Islamist terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training.
The post Israel Has Killed 17,000 Terrorists in Gaza Since Start of War, IDF Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.