Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on January 18 that its troops killed some 40 fighters of the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip over the past day.
In one incident in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the 7th Armored Brigade shelled four Hamas fighters who were approaching the troops, according to the IDF. Also in the city, troops from the elite Egoz unit raided the home of a Hamas fighter and seized weapons.
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, the IDF said that reservists from the 5th Brigade, using tank shelling, killed two fighters who were preparing an ambush. Several more Hamas fighters were killed in airstrikes in this part of the Strip.
Also in northern Gaza, reservists from the Yiftah Brigade spotted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives rigging a car up with explosives and entering a nearby building. The IDF said that a short while later, one of the fighters came out from the building and was struck by an aircraft. The booby-trapped car was also struck.
The IDF added that in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, reservists from the 179th Armored Brigade located a cache of anti-tank mines, rocket-propelled grenades and other military equipment.
From its side, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters killed five Israeli troops after targeting a house they were occupying in Khan Younis with a rocket-propelled grenade.
The group also released video footage showing an attack with a rocket-propelled grenade on a main battle tank of the IDF in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
It’s worth noting that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 24,285, 70% of whom were women and children, according to the latest update by the Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip. At least 61,154 others have been wounded.
Despite ongoing indirect talks with Hamas, Israel is showing no willingness to accept another ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli leadership appears to be determined to go on with the war.
