Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
On November 16, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that its fighter jets struck overnight the home of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of the Hamas Movement who lives in Qatar, in the Gaza Strip.
The home was “used as terror infrastructure and, among other things, as a meeting place for the senior officials of the organization,” said the IDF, which also released video footage of the airstrike.
Separately, the IDF said that the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit found and destroyed weapons and equipment belonging to Hamas’s naval forces in Gaza City’s al-Shati camp. The cache of weapons included diving equipment, firearms and explosive devices.
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- Click to see full-size image.
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- Click to see full-size image.
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- Click to see full-size image.
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- Click to see full-size image.
Israeli paratroopers also located other weapons and explosives in northern Gaza overnight, following a gun battle with Hamas operatives, according to the IDF.
A day earlier, Israeli troops stormed al-Shifa Hospital and advanced in several other parts of Gaza City. The IDF said that two of its soldiers were killed during the fighting, one from the 401st Brigade’s 601 Battalion, a part of the Combat Engineering Corps, and a second from the 401st Brigade’s 52nd Battalion.
The death of the two soldiers brought the number of Israeli troops killed during ground operations in Gaza to 50. More than 260 others were reportedly wounded.
There were also reports of material losses. Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli troops and struck 11 vehicles of the IDF, including main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers. A Skylark drone was also shot down and captured by the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Several recent reports talked about Qatari efforts to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to release some of the hostages being held in Gaza and secure a three-day ceasefire. However, the recent attacks by the IDF indicate that the Israeli leadership may be planning to capture Gaza City before accepting such a deal.
