As the ground offensive against the terror group Hamas enters its eighth week, the Israeli military is expanding its operations to central Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed on Thursday.
“Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday afternoon announced the expansion of its war activity to the central Gaza Strip, after completing significant operations in the southern and western parts of Gaza City,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reports.
The IDF made the decision public as President Joe Biden’s administration continues to mount pressure on Israel to ‘wind down’ the Gaza military operation. The announcement suggests that the “military senses the end is near and is trying to cement achievements before cease-fire declared,” the Israeli news website Ynet commented.
A ceasefire at this stage, as urged by the Biden White House, might keep Hamas in control of Gaza and sow the seeds of future terrorist attacks on Israel.
The announcement comes as the Israeli military clears the Hamas stronghold of Jabalya after weeks of bitter fighting. “The IDF has finished dismantling Hamas’s three battalions of terror forces in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza, killing over 1,000 of Hamas’s forces and arresting 500 terrorists, the IDF stated earlier in the week,” the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday evening. “Additionally, 3,000 non-combatant individuals associated with Hamas were arrested.”
The Times of Israel reported other military developments in Gaza:
The Israel Defense Forces says it has expanded its ground operations in the central Gaza Strip, with the 99th Division carrying out an operation in areas south of Gaza City.According to the IDF, the 99th Division maneuvered into new areas of central Gaza, to establish “operational control” between Gaza City and the so-called central camps — the refugee camps of central Gaza.It says that during the operation, the division’s 179th Reserve Armored Brigade and 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade killed members of Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion and destroyed the terror group’s infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon depots.Amid the operation, it says an airstrike was carried out against a Hamas cell firing RPGs from a municipal building.Meanwhile, the IDF says the division’s Yiftah Brigade continued working to clear the western neighborhoods of Gaza City of Hamas infrastructure.
As IDF continues to clear Gaza of terrorists, more and more evidence emerges of Hamas hiding weapons in residential neighborhoods, including concealing deadly weaponry and explosives in kindergartens and children’s bedrooms.
In the northern Gaza locality of “Bakshi, soldiers from the Yiftah (11th) Brigade operated to clear out the neighborhoods west of Gaza City. During the raids, troops located many weapons, some of which were hidden in children’s dolls and under children’s beds,” the Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted the pressure from Washington, declaring on Wednesday that the IDF operation in Gaza “will continue until Hamas is destroyed” and all hostages are brought home. The Hamas terrorists have two options: either “surrender or die,” he said.
The British newspaper Guardian reported the Israeli PM’s remarks:
“We’re continuing the war to the end,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday. “It will continue until Hamas is destroyed – until victory, until all the goals we set are met: destroying Hamas, releasing our hostages and removing the threat from Gaza.”“Anyone who thinks we’ll stop is unmoored from reality,” the prime minister added. “We’re raining fire on Hamas, hellfire. All Hamas terrorists, from first to last, face death. They have two options only: surrender or die.”https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/1737502179919909306
The Iranian regime, which armed and trained Hamas terrorists for the October 7 massacre, is stepping up spying operations against Israel — offering cash for surveillance on sensitive sites. Israeli security services foiled the recruitment bid after a tip-off from citizens. The revelations highlight Tehran’s intention of carrying out further terrorist and hostile acts on Israel’s soil.
The UK daily Telegraph reported:
Iran is attempting to recruit Israeli spies using social media, Israel’s Shin Bet security service has said.The agency said Iranian operatives had offered Israeli civilians cash to take photographs of sensitive sites and verify addresses.They posed as estate agents, people interested in marketing drones, couriers and users of online dating sites but were foiled after members of the public informed police, Shin Bet said.Their proposed missions, while “seen as apparently not relating to security aspects … are definitely intended to serve the Iranians and enrich the intelligence in their possession”, it added.“Its purpose is to assist Hamas in its war and to damage Israel’s national resilience and war effort, sowing demoralisation and deepening social divisions,” Shin Bet said.It added Iranian spies have “greatly intensified” their espionage, sabotage and disinformation efforts since the war in Gaza began.
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