After successfully wresting control over large parts of terrorist-held northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is preparing to take on Islamic terror group Hamas in the south of the territory.
“Southern Command continues expanding its operational activities in additional neighborhoods in the area of the Gaza Strip and conducted operational activity in the areas of Zaytun and Jabalya in order to target terrorists and strike Hamas infrastructure,” the IDF disclosed in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
The military pivot to the south of the Hamas-controlled enclave is seen as the “next stage” in IDF’s Swords of Iron operation as ground offensive in Gaza entered its fourth week. “We have completed taking over and clearing the western part of Gaza City and are now advancing to the next stage,” Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on Friday.
The UK daily Telegraph reported the widening of the Gaza ground operatio:
Israel has warned that it could continue its ground incursion into south Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled, as the north of the territory is now mostly under its control.The Israeli military dropped leaflets over areas of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, asking civilians to evacuate their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.“We’re asking people to relocate. I know it’s not easy for many of them, but we don’t want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire,” Mark Regev, an aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told MSNBC in an interview overnight.
The IDF is conducting sweeping strikes on terrorist commanders and infrastructure in Gaza. The Israeli military in a statement on Saturday afternoon revealed that “over the past day, IDF fighter jets and helicopters struck dozens of terror targets in the Gaza Strip alongside terrorists and additional terror infrastructure, including operational command centers, launch posts, and weapon manufacturing laboratories.”
The death toll from the Re’im music festival massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists has risen to over 350, Israel authorities confirmed. On October 7, Hamas terrorist infiltrators raped and slaughtered hundreds of young women, Israeli and foreign nationals, as part of their shock cross-border attack into Israel.
Many of these young women were taken as hostages and paraded as sick war trophies as thousands of euphoric Gazan residents spat on them and greeted the returning terrorists with chants of ‘Allahu Akbar.’
The i24NEWS reported:
Israel on Friday revised upward the death toll from the massacre at the Noval music festival, saying that “at least 350” people were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7.The trance music festival, which was attended by thousands of young people, was among the jihadists’ first targets; dozens were taken hostage.Israeli emergency services earlier said some 260 bodies had been recovered from the site of the festival, but over a month of forensic research led to the toll to be revised.
With Iran-sponsored terrorist group Hezbollah using Lebanese territory to fire missiles and shells into northern Israel, the IDF is responding with defensive strikes.
“Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for two more attacks on IDF forces in the eastern area of the upper Galilee,” the newspaper Israel Hayom reported Friday night. “IDF confirms airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after mortar fire toward northern Israel”
IDF detailed its response to the latest Hezbollah terror strikes in a press release on Saturday:
Earlier today, IDF aircraft struck a number of Hezbollah terror infrastructures.Furthermore, following the sirens sounded in northern Israel, a number of launches were identified from Lebanon toward Israeli territory.IDF artillery is striking the sources of the launches.
Israel’s war against terrorism is not limited to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli military and security forces on Saturday targeted terrorists affiliated to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West Bank.
Israeli security services eliminated several PLO-linked terrorists, including wanted-terrorist Muhammad Zahed, during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The slain terrorists were planning imminent attacks on Israel. “Five fighters in the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party were killed early Saturday in a rare Israeli airstrike on the … West Bank,” the Telegraph reported.
It is worth noting that European Union and Western governments want the PLO-run Palestinian Authority (PA) to take over Gaza once Hamas is flushed out of Gaza. PLO-PA Authority-controlled cities, such as Jenin and Nablus, are terrorist strongholds often used to carry out attacks inside Israel and provide safe haven for terrorists.
The IDF revealed the details of the West Bank operation in a press release on Saturday morning:
In a joint IDF and ISA overnight counterterrorism activity in the Balata Camp, an IDF aircraft struck a hideout used by terrorists involved in planning imminent terror attacks against Israeli civilians and military targets.The terrorists killed during the activity include Muhammad Zahed, resident of the camp, a prominent terrorist in the city of Nablus. Zahed was involved in shooting attacks in the area of Nablus and planned further terror activity.One of the significant terror attacks he was involved in includes a shooting attack on April 2023 in Jerusalem, which wounded two Israeli civilians.Zahed took part in the hostile terror activity in the Balata Camp and founded a terrorist cell composed of the camp’s youth, which he armed with explosives and weapons for terror activities against IDF soldiers entering the camp.In the past, he carried out shooting attacks against IDF soldiers, sent terrorists to carry out terror attacks and rallied the camp against IDF forces. In addition, Zahed received weapons and funds to further terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers and began to produce explosives for the battalion.
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