Their next encirclement will apparently be the finale; the border with Egypt.
Note that there is only one existing 'open' (sometimes) crossing; Rafah.
Quote:
The IDF has allegedly informed Egypt of its intention to occupy the Rafah border area and asked Egyptian soldiers to evacuate the area, Arab media reported.
The IDF informed Egypt of its intention to occupy the border area on the "Philadelphi" Rafa route and asked the Egyptian soldiers to clear the border, as reported on Saturday in the Arab media.
The report also stated that the IDF emphasized to the Egyptians that from now on the IDF would not be responsible for the security of Egyptian forces in the area, while the IDF is attempting to occupy the border area, and emphasized that the military operation in the area will continue whether Egypt agrees or rejects it.
I don't think the IDF has any interest in the terms the Egyptians have advanced;
Quote:
Netanyahu reaffirms: "This will be a long war, we will fight until the end"
04:37 AM
U.S. doesn't dictate Israeli miltary operations, says Netanyahu, slamming 'false' reports
Israel is a sovereign state and makes its own decisions, the prime minister says at the weekly cabinet meeting, slamming the Wall Street Journal report that claimed Biden had to talk him out of a "preemptive" strike on Hezbollah in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre.
03:37 AM
IDF strikes Hezbollah launch posts, other terror infrastructure in Lebanon after rocket fire at Israel
03:12 AM
Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border communities, the first of the day
02:45 AM
Rocket sirens activated in northern Israel
01:28 AM
Egypt puts forth a proposal for 'phased' hostage deal - report
According to a report in the Arabic language Asharq Al-Awsat paper, the outline would see the release of 40 Israeli hostages in exchange for 2-3-week ceasefire, followed by the overhaul of Palestinian leadership, comprehensive prisoner swap and IDF withdrawal from Gaza.
From the guardian 4 hours ago;
Quote:
Israeli army indicates its forces are close to having operational control in north Gaza
Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesperson, has indicated that forces were close to having operational control in north Gaza, AFP reports.
Now, he said, "we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza".
Signalling a pivot after weeks of intensive fighting around Gaza City, the Israeli army said troops were now looking to Khan Younis and elsewhere in the south.
A socially conservative city, Khan Younis even before the wars that have engulfed Gaza since 2008 was long regarded as a stronghold of political support for Hamas.
I also haven't read much of updates on flooding the tunnels, but with the IDF in essentially 'operational control' of around half of Gaza now (northern part), my guess is they are content to destroy them physically instead there.
In the south (there aren't all that many in the middle), some hysterical concerns that the tunnels are 'part of Gaza's culture' etc. Some funny quotes about the claims as to aid supplies/hazardous materials in them in this post:
Note that the Egyptians flooded a bunch that crossed into Egypt (for obvious reasons) with sea water already a few years ago.
Aside: I haven't seen any reports of rocket strikes from Gaza this am, which is nice, though the IDF lost 15 soldiers yesterday.
