Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
On December 28, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had destroyed more tunnels and infrastructure of the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the IDF said that the 162nd Division is still fighting Hamas in the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah.
It also said that troops from the Bislamach Brigade destroyed Hamas infrastructure in a building from which rocket-propelled grenades were fired at a military vehicle. In addition, the Nahal Brigade directed a fighter jet to strike a building where Hamas fighters were preparing to carry out an anti-tank guided missile attack.
Troops from the 401st and 460th armored brigades also killed several Hamas fighters in the Daraj-Tuffah battalion, including by calling in airstrikes, according to the IDF.
The IDF announced in a separate statement troops from the 55th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade operating in the Khan Younis area had located several tunnel entrances, including one in a mosque.
Next to the tunnel in the mosque, troops found a rocket launcher and observation equipment used by Hamas fighters, it added.
Another tunnel entrance found in the area connects to an underground passage and a command center used by Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces, according to the IDF. The tunnels were both destroyed by combat engineers.
From its side, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that its fighters had targeted eight main battle tanks, a bulldozer and eight other vehicles of the IDF with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices in Khan Yunis, al-Burij and al-Maghazi in south and central Gaza.
It also reported attacks against several Israeli gatherings in the central region and said that an infantry unit was ambushed in Khan Younis.
In addition, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced that it had launched rockets and mortars at several gatherings of the IDF in Khan Yunis and other parts of Gaza as well as at military sites near the Strip.
Overall, the IDF continues to expand ground operations in Gaza. Talks between Israel and Hamas on a new ceasefire are yet to yield an agreement.
