Israeli military says it hit more than 400 terror targets over past day, including mosque used as command center by Islamic Jihad; IDF asks Gazan civilians to move to safe zones
ByEMANUEL FABIAN and TOI STAFFToday, 11:54 am
A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 2, 2023, shows destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory. (Jack Guez/AFP)
The Israel Defense Forces carried out “extensive” strikes against the Hamas terror group in south Gaza overnight, while calling on Palestinians on Saturday morning to evacuate from zones near the Israeli border, indicating ground operations in the southern part of the Strip were due to start soon.
In a statement Saturday morning, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes against over 400 targets across the Gaza Strip in the past day since Hamas violated the truce and fighting resumed.
Ground, air and naval forces were all involved in the operations.
The military said fighter jets attacked over 50 targets in the Khan Younis area in “extensive” strikes in the southern part of the enclave.
Troops on the ground in northern Gaza directed airstrikes on several targets, including a mosque that was used by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group as an operational headquarters.
The Navy also carried out strikes on Hamas infrastructure in the south, including on equipment used by the terror group’s naval forces.
The military also said that several terror cells were eliminated, and that targets hit included an ammunition depot.
The ground troops in northern Gaza were mostly operating in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya.
The strikes in Khan Younis come amid the belief that some of Hamas’s leadership was present in the city, and ahead of plans by the IDF to expand ground operations there.
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip said that 240 people had been killed in the enclave since fighting renewed on Friday.
Hamas says the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians. These numbers have not been independently verified and are believed to include Palestinian civilians killed by errant rockets launched by terror groups as well as Palestinian terrorists killed by Israel.
Gazans reported the IDF had dropped flyers in Khan Younis calling on residents to move south to Rafah, warning that the area is dangerous.
The IDF on Saturday began to use a map splitting the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small zones, to notify Palestinian civilians of active combat zones, including in southern Gaza where ground troops are expected to operate when the IDF expands its offensive. The map is instead of the IDF demanding mass evacuations as it did in the northern part of Gaza.
The IDF’s Arabic-language Spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, said on X that Palestinians in several zones in northern Gaza’s Jalabiya, Shujayya and Zeitoun, should evacuate to “known shelters” shelters in the Daraj and Tuffah areas of Gaza City.
He also called on Palestinians in several zones in southern Gaza’s Khirbat Ikhza’a, Abasan, Bani Suheila and Ma’an — near the Israeli border — to head for shelters in Rafah.
Also on Saturday morning, Hamas renewed rocket fire toward Israel after an overnight lull.
There were no reports of injuries or damage.
There were no injuries reported from the rockets, though the IDF said five soldiers were wounded as a result of a mortar strike near the southern community of Nirim Friday morning. Three of the soldiers were listed in moderate condition, while the other two were lightly hurt.
Fighting also resumed Friday along the Israel-Lebanon border, with the Hezbollah terror organization renewing its attacks after pausing fire over the past week amid the truce in Gaza.
In northern Israel, several rockets were fired from Lebanon at army posts along the border near Rosh Hanikra and Maragaliot, and also at the city of Kiryat Shmona, as Hezbollah claimed responsibility for targeting IDF positions on the border after halting its attacks during the ceasefire in Gaza.
Two rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona were intercepted by the Iron Dome, said the IDF, adding that it responded with artillery shelling at the source of the fire.
There were no reports of injuries or damage as a result of the cross-border attacks.
The IDF said it struck a terror cell in southern Lebanon, close to the northern community of Zar’it, and carried out a strike with a fighter jet, combat helicopter and artillery against a Hezbollah site.
Separately, a Hezbollah cell preparing to carry out an attack near the northern community of Malkia was struck by an aircraft, the IDF added.
Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, Lebanon’s southern border with Israel has witnessed deadly exchanges of fire, primarily involving the Israeli army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, an Iranian proxy, as well as Palestinian terror groups.
Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report.
It is also my understanding that many Hamas operatives are holed up in Khan Younis, although many have fled south. But once the IDF take Khan Younis that will be a very positive sign of success for Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhoXvs0NIAg&t=1s
The video is with Tom Nash. I don’t know what his background is, but I have learned from him how the Palestinians view the conflict with Israel.
The Palestinians view their conflict with Israel as if Israel is Goliath and they are David. It is inexplicable to them why Israel never wins in any conflict with them. Over the years since Hamas was formed, this has continuously empowered them to believe that they can ultimately win over Israel, as if Israel just doesn’t have the guts to finish the job. In addition, to them, Israel seems so divided internally by political conflict, that they cannot imagine a united Israel actually winning against them.
This view apparently changed prior to the hostage deal negotiations when Hamas was really hurting. Hamas asked Iran for help and Iran refused help, saying, “We didn’t order this attack.” The original battle plan was for Hamas to start in the south, the Palestinians in J&S to attack next, then Hezbollah to attack from the north finishing Israel off. But Hamas jumped the gun.
Since this was the original battle plan, I hope the military and security establishment in Israel are working on plans to cope with this. It is very likely the plan will be put in place at some point, and Israel will need freedom of action to prosecute that kind of war, even if and when Hamas is destroyed. That means, with an adversarial US government, Israel will need weapons supplied from sources independent of the US.
I have also learned that Israel wants Sinwar dead. If he were to escape out of Gaza through Egypt and never show his face again, it is thought that would be good enough for Israel. I am not sure if that is true, or if Israel will pursue him. But one goal, removing him from Gaza is certain.