Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on May 26 that it had carried out over 200 strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours as part of its ongoing large-scale offensive against the Hamas Movement, codenamed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”.
The targets included “terror operatives,” weapon depots, anti-tank and sniper positions, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure, according to a statement by the military.
In southern Gaza, the IDF said that a building used by Hamas as a weapons depot, an observation post, and another structure used by the group were struck. Israeli troops also directed drone strikes on several fighters spotted in buildings near the forces.
The military added that a strike carried out by a fighter jet destroyed a building where fighters of Hamas’s Nukhba force were operating in southern Gaza.
The IDF announced in a separate statement released earlier that it carried out a strike overnight against “key terrorists” who were embedded within a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood in the northern part of the Strip. The al-Jarjawi school was being used by both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a command center, the military alleged.
“The command and control center was used by the terrorists to plan and gather intelligence in order to carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops in the area,” the military said.
It added “many steps” were taken to mitigate civilian harm, including by using precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
Despite these claims, Palestinian media reported that at least 30 people, including children, were killed in the strike on the school. Some 20 others were killed in other Israeli strikes that targeted the Strip.
Amid the deadly strikes, a salvo of rockets was launched from southern Gaza. The IDF said that a total of three rockets were fired, with two falling short in the Strip and the third getting intercepted by air defenses. Sirens did not sound in any of the settlements bordering Gaza and there were no reports of any losses.
The IDF launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots earlier this month. 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.
While the IDF is advancing in Gaza on a daily basis, it continues to face some resistance. Since the start of the offensive, two soldiers have been killed and several others were wounded.
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