A day after Israel ended hostage negotiations in response to Hamas’s breach of the ceasefire, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is stepping up operations against terrorist strongholds in southern Gaza. “Israel’s determination to completely dismantle Hamas means that takeover of the south is an absolute military necessity,” Sky News (UK) reported Sunday. “The southern campaign has already started, with air raids in and around the city of Khan Younis fully underway.”
For the first time since the Gaza ground offensive began 40 days ago, Israeli tanks were sighted in southern Gaza, where Hamas’s top leadership is reportedly hiding among civilians, Israeli media reports say. IDF, however, did not comment on the unfolding military activity in the south.
“Over the past day, there have been unconfirmed reports of IDF ground forces operating in the southern Gaza Strip,” The Times of Israel reported Sunday afternoon. “Footage posted to social media has purported to show Israeli tanks on the Salah a-Din road, Gaza’s main north-south highway, between Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.”
The IDF has divided Gaza into zones, helping civilians to vacate the areas where Israeli troops are engaging Hamas terrorists. The Associated Press reported Sunday:
With the resumption of fighting, the Israeli military published an online map carving up Gaza into hundreds of numbered parcels and asked residents to familiarize themselves with the number of their location ahead of evacuation warnings.On Saturday, the military listed more than two dozen parcel numbers around Gaza City and east of Khan Younis. Separately, it dropped leaflets with evacuation orders over towns east of Khan Younis, Jabaliya and eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City.
Israeli military and security forces scored another major success when they eliminated Hamas terror commander Wissam Farhat, one of the key planners of the October 7 massacre. Farhat, who was responsible for the murder of several Israel soldiers and civilians in multiple terrorist attacks over the years, was killed in a joint operation conducted by the IDF and the Israeli security agency Shin Bet.
Farhat “took part in the planning of the October 7th massacre, during which, he directed Hamas ‘Nuhkba’ terrorists to infiltrate the Nahal Oz Kibbutz and IDF post,” the Israeli military said in statement Saturday night.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported the slain Hamas terror operative’s track record:
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Satuday eliminated Hamas terror mastermind Wissam Farhat, the military spokesman said.“Farhat planned and sent the terrorists on October 7 to the Nahal Oz kibbutz and nearby army post, where a cruel massacre was carried out,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.Farhat was the commander of Hamas’s Shejaiya battalion. He took command over the battalion in 2010 and led it during the 2014 Gaza war. He was behind an attack that resulted in the deaths of six IDF soldiers during that conflict.Among the planners of the October 7th massacre, he directed terrorists from the Nukhba battalion to infiltrate the Nahal Oz Kibbutz and an adjacent IDF post.Additionally, Farhat was one of the masterminds of the 2002 terror attack on Mechinat Atzmona, in which five Israeli civilians were killed.
Besides decapitating Hamas by taking out its terrorist leadership, the IDF is carrying out sweeping operations aimed at destroying its terrorist infrastructure — including hundreds of miles of terror tunnels laid down across Gaza. Since the ground operation began nearly six weeks ago, the Israeli military has destroyed hundreds of tunnel shafts, many of them concealed below mosques, schools, and hospitals.
The IDF disclosed the grim findings in a press release Sunday morning:
Since the beginning of ground operations in the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers have located over 800 shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels. About 500 of the tunnel shafts have been destroyed using a variety of operational methods, including with explosives and blocks. Some of the tunnel shafts connected Hamas’ strategic assets via the underground tunnel network. In addition, many miles of the tunnel routes have been destroyed.The tunnel shafts were located in civilian areas, many of which were near or inside civilian buildings and structures, such as schools, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds. IDF soldiers located large quantities of weapons inside some of the shafts. These findings are further proof of how Hamas deliberately uses the civilian population and infrastructure as a cover for its terrorist activity inside Gaza.
Several Israeli soldiers sustained minor injures when they were hit by an anti-tank missile fired by an Hezbollah terrorist group operating in southern Lebanon. Since the October 7 terrorist attacks, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has stepped up the firing of rockets and shells into northern Israel.
The IDF carried out retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah targets.
The Telegraph reported Sunday afternoon:
Israel’s military has said several of its soldiers have sustained minor shrapnel injuries in an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanese territory.The Israel Defense Forces say the attack also damaged one of its vehicles in the Beit Hillel area of northern Israel, a few miles from the border with Lebanon.They did not confirm how many soldiers were hurt or who fired at them.Israel’s military says artillery are striking the areas in Lebanon that the missile was fired from.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY