The ongoing war between the Jewish state and the terrorist organization from Palestine, Hamas has entered its 16th day. Amid this, the Israeli military revealed on Monday (23rd October) that limited ground operations were carried out in the Gaza Strip overnight to combat Palestinian gunmen. It further stated that airstrikes were being targeted at Hamas assembly points.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesperson for the Israeli military, announced in a televised briefing that 222 persons had been held captive during Hamas’s cross-border assault on October 7th.
“Earlier Sunday, one Israeli soldier was killed during a similar raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip,” the military said. Israeli troops have been conducting border raids, in order to clear the region and obtain intelligence on missing people and captives held by Hamas in the enclave.
“An IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier was killed, one was moderately injured, and two were lightly injured as a result of an anti-tank missile launched toward an IDF tank and an engineering vehicle,” the military was further quoted as saying.
Also on Sunday (22nd October), Hamas claimed to have destroyed an Israeli tank and two bulldozers in an ambush east of the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.
The Palestinian resistance group’s Al-Qassam Brigades said in a brief statement that its ‘fighters’ engaged an armoured Israeli force in a well-prepared ambush to the east of Khan Younis, just moments after it passed the border by a few meters.
Notably, last week, Hamas freed two American captives, Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie. They got back together with their families in Israel and spoke to US President Joe Biden, who was “delighted” that the two were able to get away.
Leaders from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement in which they reaffirmed their strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against the Hamas terror group. Hamas launched a terrorist assault on Israeli territory on 7th October, killing over 1,400 people. The leaders also emphasized the importance of protecting civilian life and complying with international humanitarian law in the ongoing fight.
