The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday it killed over 100 gunmen in the Gaza Strip in recent days – while also contending with growing challenges from Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group that has escalated fighting against the Jewish state to an “existential level,” according to one report.
Over the past few days, IDF’s 162nd Division killed over 100 gunmen in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the Times of Israel reported. The military also located rocket launchers, weapon caches and other Hamas infrastructure, the outlet said.
Also on Saturday, the IDF carried out an airstrike against a group of Hamas operatives at a command room within a former school in Gaza City.
Hamas was using the site of the former Shuhada al-Zeitoun School to plan and execute attacks against Israel, the IDF alleged.
The school had been converted into shelter for displaced Palestinians, and the Gazan health officials said that at least 14 people were killed in the strike, the Times of Israel reported.
At the same time as it was rooting out Hamas operatives, Israel faced escalated fighting to its north with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which launched over 55 rockets into northern Israel overnight, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in support for the Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas.
The IDF confirmed that it intercepted many of the rockets, and that those not intercepted hit open areas, the Jerusalem Post said.
The Israeli Air Force responded to the attacks by striking a launcher from which several of the rockets were fired, in addition to other targets in southern Lebanon.
Israel Army Radio later claimed that the Hezbollah bombardment was a response to the Israeli attack on one of Hezbollah’s command facilities in a building in Nabatieh, Lebanon. A separate strike hit a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Kfar Roummane, the IDF said.
Later on Saturday, Israeli fighter jets struck a third building, in southern Lebanon’s Blida, where the IDF said it identified a group of Hezbollah operatives.
Hezbollah’s war against Israel – which started on Oct. 8 last year – has evolved over the last 11 months into an “existential” mission, a purported “military source” told the Lebanese news outlet Ad-Diyar.
The ideological shift in Hezbollah’s goals comes as the terror group allegedly understands that Israel is pivoting its own military focus from Gaza to the northern front, the Jerusalem Post said.
Earlier this week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told members of the IDF’s 9th Brigade that the “center of gravity is shifting to the north.”
“While we are wrapping up our missions in the South, an important task remains in the North: to restore security and allow residents to return to their homes,” he said.
This week, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar thanked Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for his support in the ongoing war – which he called “one of the most honorable battles for the Palestinian people.”
In addition to the looming threat from Hezbollah, Israel and the West are still contending with Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been attacking ships in the vital Red Sea corridor as a way to show support for Hamas.
Late Friday, US Central Command said that in the prior 24 hours, US forces destroyed three uncrewed drones and one support vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
“It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” the statement read. “These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels.”
With Post wires
