For the first time since Israeli forces initiated their ground offensive in Gaza, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) artillery has been deployed inside the Gaza Strip.
In the last few days, forces of the IDF’s artillery, the 282nd Fire Brigade, crossed the border and operated in the Gaza Strip in cooperation with elements of the 188th armoured brigade in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.
During the operation, over 20 terrorist targets were attacked, including munitions warehouses and military infrastructures of the terrorist organisation Hamas.
Until now, the men and women of the IDF artillery corps have only operated from outside the Gaza Strip, assisting the forces on the ground.
As heavy fighting continues in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, with the war entering its 66th day and Israeli forces being relentess in their pursuit of attacking Hamas, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the terror group to ‘surrender now’ and warned that ‘it is the beginning of the end of Hamas’.
Netanyahu’s warning comes at a time when dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to Israeli forces in recent days.
In a video posted by Israel PM’s Office, Netanyahu called on Hamas terrorists to not die for Hamas head in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Netanyahu said, “In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces. They are laying down their weapons and turning themselves into our heroic soldiers. This will take time. The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for Sinwar. Surrender – now!”
Meanwhile, Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has discovered a large tunnel network below Palestine Square in Gaza City, The Times of Israel reported.
Hagari said that troops of the 401st Armoured Brigade, the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, and the Air Force’s Shaldag unit have completed the capture of the Palestine Square area. He said that troops using “accurate intelligence” found the network of “strategic tunnels” in the area, which according to him connect to Shifa Hospital.
Hagari said, “The Palestine Square area houses Yahya Sinwar’s office, government offices, assets of senior Hamas officials, and there is a network of terror tunnels,” The Times of Israel reported.
He noted, “This is the area of the main command center, where senior Hamas members were on October 7 and during the fighting, and during the fighting, they moved to other areas.” He said the troops are continuing to probe the tunnel network in the area.
Meanwhile, the IDF announced that it has killed the new commander of Hamas’ Shejaiya battalion in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Emad Qariqa replaced Wissam Farhat after the latter was killed in an Israeli airstrike on December 2. According to IDF, Qariqa previously worked as Shejaiya battalion’s deputy commander.
On Saturday, IDF also announced the death of a soldier who was injured in northern Gaza on Friday, taking the toll of slain soldiers in the ground offensive against Hamas to 98, according to The Times of Israel report.
The soldier has been identified as Lt Nethanel Menachem Eitan (22), a cadet in the Bahad 1 officers school’s Gefen Battalion, and a soldier in the Air Force’s Unit 669. In addition, the IDF said that another five soldiers were seriously injured during the fighting in Gaza on Saturday.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
