The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed Saturday that it had completed dismantling Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza, Ednews reports citing CNN.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF was now focused on dismantling Hamas in central and southern Gaza.

Hagari told a press conference that around 8,000 Hamas militants had been killed in northern Gaza.

CNN cannot independently verify the IDF claim that it has dismantled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza or that 8,000 Hamas militants have been killed.

At least 22,438 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli military operations that began following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Almost 70% of those individuals killed in Gaza are women and children, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report released in December.

Hagari said the IDF would continue its effort to dismantle Hamas, but this would take time.

“We will do so in a different method, thoroughly and on the basis of the lessons we have learned from the fighting so far,” Hagari said.