The IDF is expanding its operations in southern Gaza, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday, even as the forces have gained full control over the Jabalya neighborhood in the north of the enclave.
“In southern Gaza, in the Khan Younis area, we are expanding our operations, and deepening it. We added a full brigade and additional combat engineering forces for operations in the area, to improve our operations,” Hagari said.
Israeli forces are continuing targeted raids on terrorist positions in Khan Younis. During one raid, terrorists fired anti-tank RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) missiles at the forces, but the exchange ended with the terrorists’ deaths.
The troops also found a weapons storage facility containing explosive devices, weapons, grenades, and military vests.
IDF troops destroyed a tunnel shaft near the coastline in the southern sector. After blowing up the shaft, the troops spotted a large number of terrorists fleeing into a compound on the coastline. An IAF fighter jet struck the building and eliminated the terrorists.
The Israeli Navy is also continuing to strike terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including compounds where there were terror operatives and vessels used by Hamas for its military activity. The Israeli Navy is also continuing to carry out strikes to assist the ground troops in the Gaza Strip.
Northern Gaza
In Jabalya, the 162nd Division has achieved operational control according to the division commander, Brigadier General Itzik Cohen. The IDF estimated that its forces have eliminated some 1,000 Hamas operatives in Jabalya, and captured approximately 3,500 Gazans for questioning.
“Jabalya is not the Jabalya it used to be,” said Cohen. “We killed hundreds of terrorists in Jabalya and arrested around 500 suspects in terror activities, some of whom took part in the events of October 7,” Cohen added.
The IDF completed its activity in the area of the Kamal Adwan hospital, which had been used by Hamas as a command and control center in Jabalya. Ninety terrorists, some of whom took part in the October 7th massacre, were arrested and numerous weapons were located.
Among the detainees was the manager of the hospital, Ahmad Mohammad Hassan al-Kahlout. His nom de guerre is Abu Hassan, he told Israeli interrogators, adding that his rank in Hamas was equivalent to Brigadier General, and that he joined the terror organization in 2010.
During the activity in the hospital, IDF and ISA forces questioned the hospital workers. The workers confessed that weapons were hidden in incubators in the NICU, incubators that were supposed to be used to treat premature babies. Following the questioning, IDF troops located weapons, classified documents, and tactical communications equipment.
The 162nd Division also found Hamas intelligence material during its operations in Jabalya, which proved helpful in further operations in the area.
IDF soldiers from the division who were operating in Al-Atatra and Jabalya uncovered weapons production sites and a storage facility containing a large stockpile of armaments, including missiles, rockets, and explosives in one of the buildings.
The soldiers were operating in an area of Jabalya from which numerous rocket attacks were launched at Netiv Ha’Asara. During the operation, the soldiers raided the homes of terror operatives where they located weapons, maps of significant tunnel routes and intelligence findings.
While searching one building, the forces found a rocket lathe with hundreds of missiles and a truck intended for their transportation to launchers. In another terrorist outpost, the forces found documents with maps of the Israeli communities in the Gaza Envelope; on them were markings of vulnerable points such as schools and dining rooms.
Elsewhere in northern Gaza, IDF troops found an explosive device planted in a medical clinic near a school in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shuja’iyya, in addition to numerous weapons including AK-47 assault rifles, vests and cartridges.
Earlier in the week, the forces located an attack tunnel shaft that was more than 15 meters (49 feet) in length, from which Hamas previously carried out attacks against troops. The forces directed an IAF aircraft to strike the shaft and destroyed it.
