On the 60th day of Operation Iron Swords, the war against the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Force continued to advance on Hamas strongholds in the northern Gaza Strip while continuing its heavy aerial bombardment of the Strip's southern part, especially the town Khan Younis.
In the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army concentrates on the last strongholds of Hamas in Shuja'iyya and Jabaliya, while heavy airstrikes are preparing the ground for the Israeli army in the south.
Israeli officials have confirmed that the next phase of the ground operation in the southern part of the Strip has begun without announcing a major ground incursion there yet.
Palestinians have reported spotting Israeli armored vehicles on the northern outskirts of Khan Younis for the last few days.
The Israeli army has been dropping leaflets calling on the residents of northern neighborhoods of Khan Younis to evacuate, suggesting that a ground incursion in the areas is imminent.
According to the open source intelligence blog War Mapper, the IDF has taken up forward positions north of Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of Gaza, units of the 162nd Division are advancing deeper into the town of Jabaliya after completing its encirclement and are breaking down Hamas infrastructure with the help of Air Force and Navy forces, the IDF stated on Tuesday morning.
The building of the General Security Headquarters of the terrorist organization Hamas in Jabaliya was raided in a joint operation of the Shin Bet and commando soldiers of the 551st Reserve Brigade and the Navy's special forces, Shayetet 13.
During the raid, the soldiers found weapons, maps, and observation and control systems in the command center.
In another joint operation, the Air Force and the Paratrooper Brigade attacked a building belonging to the Hamas' elite Nukhba force and eliminated several terrorists. In addition, they located and destroyed rockets in the yard of a house.
During the last 24 hours, soldiers of the 162nd Division thwarted terrorist infrastructures, located weapons and launchers in civilian buildings, and directed air forces to attack terrorists from the air.
Navy forces assisted the ground units by attacking dozens of operational targets from the sea, among them buildings from which the terrorists were shooting and firing mortar bombs.
In another instance of the close cooperation between the Israeli armed forces, fighters of the 7th Armored Brigade on Monday spotted three Hamas terrorists near its fighters. They immediately directed a drone toward the terrorists which eliminated them.
In addition, the fighters eliminated two terrorists who shot at them from a tunnel shaft, before blowing up the shaft.
The death toll from the ground operation inside the Gaza Strip now stands at 78, after the IDF announced the deaths of three more soldiers on Tuesday.
They were identified as:
– Sgt. Yakir Yedidya Schenkolewski (21), from Migdal Oz, soldier in the 188th Armored Brigade's 53rd Battalion.
– Staff Sgt. Tuval Yaakov Tsanani (20), from Kiryat Gat, soldier in the 188th Armored Brigade's 53rd Battalion.
– Cpt. Eitan Fisch (23), from Peduel, officer in the 188th Armored Brigade's 53rd Battalion.
Four other soldiers were seriously injured during the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Republished with permission from All Israel News.