Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
As of January 14, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continue to operate in the Gaza Strip while facing fierce resistance from the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions.
In a morning update on operations over the past day, the IDF releases footage showing two Hamas fighters in the town of Maghazi in southern Gaza, before they are targeted in an airstrike. The IDF said that troops from the Golani Brigade identified the fighters moving toward a building they were in, before calling in the strike.
Also in southern Gaza, combat intelligence collection troops operating with the 7th Armored Brigade spotted two Hamas fighters in the city of Khan Younish and called in an airstrike against them, the IDF said. It added that the 7th Brigade killed five more Hamas fighters with tank shelling and located a tunnel shaft in the city.
The Givati Brigade also killed, with air support, nine Hamas fighters during separate incidents in Khan Younis over the past day.
Separately, the IDF released footage of the Kfir Brigade operating in Khan Younis. During raids carried out by the brigade, troops located assault rifles, explosives devices, missile warheads, rockets and other military equipment belonging to Hamas and its elite Nukhba force.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of Gaza, the IDF said in its morning update that troops from the 401st Armored Brigade discovered and destroyed several rocket launchers in the al-Atatra neighborhood, which were used in recent attacks against Israel.
Despite all recent Israeli operations, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters fired a salvo of M75 rockets at the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. Sources close to Hamas said that the rockets were launched from Israeli-occupied areas in northern Gaza. There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Rocket sirens were also sounded at the Israeli settlements of Sa’ad, Zimrat and Shuva which are located right to the east of Gaza. However, there were no reports of impacts.
In recent weeks, the IDF shifted focus from northern to southern Gaza and is reportedly preparing to launch an operation to occupy the Strip’s border with Egypt. All previous operations have clearly failed to degrade the capabilities of Hamas and other armed factions, or even to destroy their rocket arsenal.
