Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on May 23 that the air force struck over 75 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day in the framework of the ongoing large-scale offensive against Hamas, codenamed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”.
The targets included “terror operatives, rocket launchers, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, and other infrastructure,” the military said in a brief statement.
It added that ground troops also killed several Palestinian fighters across Gaza and destroyed other sites belonging to Hamas.
Just a day earlier, the IDF said that the 8th Division had joined Operation Gideon’s Chariots and resumed operations in Gaza.
The elite formation of paratrooper and commando units began operating in the city of Khan Younis in the southern part of the Strip, which the IDF ordered its complete evacuation with the start of the active phase of the offensive earlier this week.
The military said that the division is now working to establish “operational control” and destroy Hamas’s infrastructure above and below Khan Younis.
The formation has so far killed dozens of “terror operatives,” including in close-quarters combat and by directing airstrikes, according to the military, which also noted that some 200 infrastructures were demolished, including tunnels.
The Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency said on May 23 that Israeli strikes killed at least 16 Palestinians since midnight across the Strip. Meanwhile, the IDF, which lost two soldiers in the first days of the operation, is yet to acknowledge any additional losses.
The IDF launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots last week. Currently, five divisions with tens of thousands of troops are operating in Gaza.
Israeli officials stated that the large-scale offensive would see the military “conquer” Gaza and retain the territory, attack Hamas, prevent the group from taking control of humanitarian aid supplies, and move Palestinians from the Strip’s north to its south.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
