Israeli soldiers destroyed a Hamas explosives laboratory in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza where the terror organization is trying to regroup, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.
In addition to the laboratory, troops also located a large amount of military equipment. In recent days, soldiers eliminated Hamas terror squads in face-to-face encounters, and seized Kalashnikov rifles, mortars, explosives, and other equipment. The Air Force also destroyed a launch site from where rockets had been fired at Ashkelon and tunnel shafts.
In central Gaza, soldiers killed several Hamas terrorists in close encounters and by tank fire, including a squad that was observing troops. Jets also destroyed a rocket launcher ready to fire rockets into central Israel.
Overall, Israel carried out airstrikes on more than 75 Hamas including terror squads, weapons storage facilities, rocket launchers, observation posts and other infrastructure.
On Sunday night, Israel struck a Hamas compound, killing two senior commanders responsible for coordinating terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a fire caused by exploding Hamas munitions spread to a nearby camp for displaced Gazans in Rafah’s Tal as Sultan neighborhood.
Casualty figures cited by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry could not be independently verified.
The attack also came against the backdrop of a ruling by the International Court of Justice on Friday whose ambiguous wording is unlikely to curtail military activity in Rafah.
Rafah sits on the Gaza-Egypt border and is Hamas’s last stronghold with an estimated four battalions. Israel’s delegation of the ICJ told the judges that of the 700 tunnels located in Rafah by the army, approximately 50 crossed into Egypt. Those tunnels are used for weapons smuggling and could also be used to take hostages out of the Strip.
Israel took control of the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7 to prevent Hamas from commandeering humanitarian aid deliveries from Egypt.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 125 remaining hostages, 39 are believed dead.
