As Operation Protective Edge continues into its third week, IDF soldiers killed 15 terrorists in the past 24 hours. The force struck 35 targets in Gaza. The total is now 3,400 hit by the IDF.
The tunnels remain a massive threat to the security of the State of Israel. Hamas is still trying to carry out attacks in Israeli territory via the tunnels.
Late Wednesday IDF soldiers discovered a major tunnel containing maps, IDF uniforms and weaponry for an imminent attack.
In another incident Israeli fighter pilots were summoned by a unit of Combat Engineers who spotted terrorists emerging from a tunnel. The IAF struck the cell, eliminating the threat of another terrorist attack.
Troops from the Givati Brigade arrested 150 terror suspects in a sweep carried out in Rafah, which straddles the border between Gaza and Egypt. As with others over the past week, one of the terrorists was dressed as an IDF soldier, indicating he was planning to infiltrate into Israel to carry out a terror attack and possibly an abduction via a terrorist tunnel.
More than 200 terrorists have been eliminated thus far during the ground phase of Operation Protective Edge.
The IDF has lost 32 warriors in this war.
In some of their homes, they found manuals on how to operate certain weapons, how to booby trap a house and how to plant explosives. Some of the guide books provided intelligence about units of the Israeli army.
At least 98 rockets were fired at Israel on Wednesday, with 25 intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. A total of 2,270 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the operation. The Iron Dome has intercepted 448, at a cost of $50,000 apiece. Dangerous shrapnel falls from the skies each time there is an interception, with Home Front Command constantly warning curious Israelis and others in the area not to touch the various bits and pieces they find on the ground, since they too can cause injury. A foreign worker was killed by a rocket while working in a field.
To date, the IDF has also uncovered 31 terror tunnels, all of which were intended to be used to carry out attacks and abductions in Israel. Thus far, engineers collapsed nine of them.