Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
On December 15, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that its troops had captured and destroyed the main command center of the Hamas Movement’s Shejaiya battalion in the northern Gaza Strip.
The troops killed Hamas fighters and destroyed a tunnel shaft at the scene, as one fighter inside attempted to throw an explosive device, the IDF said in a statement, noting that the operation was backed up by tank fire, artillery fire and air force strikes.
Meanwhile, the IDF said that troops operating in Khan Younis city in the south tackled “terror infrastructure,” including numerous tunnel shafts, and killed “many” fighters there. They also located a tunnel within which were motorcycles used by Hamas fighters during the October 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
In another statement, the IDF said that it had carried out a series of airstrikes against sites used by Hamas’s internal security on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The strikes, carried out by fighter jets, attack helicopters and combat drones, targeted military compounds, guard posts, observation posts, weapons depots and command centers belonging to Hamas’ internal security forces.
“The sites that were hit in the Rafah area, where Hamas terrorists operated, aided the smuggling efforts led by the Hamas terror organization and included weapons that endanger IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip and the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said.
It also claimed that the airstrikes “dealt a blow” to Hamas’s ability to smuggle more weapons into the Strip from neighboring Egypt.
Separately, the IDF announced the death of a soldier during fighting this morning in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the toll of slain Israeli troops in ground operations against Hamas to 118. The soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Shay Uriel Pizem, 23, a tank commander in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion, from Ein HaNatziv.
It’s worth noting that Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced on December 14 that its fighters struck 72 vehicles of the IDF and killed 36 troops during clashes in northern and southern Gaza over the past 24 hours.
IDF losses in Gaza grew this week. However, an end to Israeli ground operations in the Strip remains highly unlikely. The operations will go on for several more months, according to recent remarks by senior Israeli officials.
