The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday morning that it had taken control of a Hamas military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Last day, IDF troops secured a military stronghold belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement. “Anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons and various intelligence materials were located by the troops at the site.”
According to the IDF, an IDF warplane, in coordination with soldiers on the ground, struck a cell containing approximately ten Hamas terrorists. Ground troops then identified an anti-tank missile cell operating in their area and an IDF aircraft was targeted at the missile cell.
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Since Hamas provoked war with its bloody attack on Israel a month ago, Israeli forces have continued to bomb Hamas military targets with airstrikes and are now conducting ground operations in Palestinian territory.
Biden administration notified Congress of plan to transfer $320 million worth of precision bombs to Israel
Israeli soldiers are operating in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli army is currently conducting ground operations against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via Portal)
Thousands of Palestinian civilians were caught in the crossfire as Israel said Hamas terrorists had hidden rocket launch sites and other military targets within civilian infrastructure. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims that more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli bombardment, including about 4,100 children, although these figures cannot be independently verified.
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More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s unprecedented infiltration of Israel on October 7, when men, women and children were slaughtered in the most horrific ways imaginable. Hamas terrorists captured 240 hostages in the attack and brought them back to Gaza.
Both Israel and Hamas have rejected growing calls for an end to the fighting. Israel says the hostages should be released first. Hamas says it will neither release them nor stop fighting while Gaza is under attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel could consider “tactical small pauses” in the fighting in the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid, but again rejected international calls for a ceasefire.
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Israelis overwhelmingly believe in the justice of the Gaza war, even if the world’s mood is sour
Netanyahu had previously said that ending the fighting would be tantamount to “surrendering to Hamas.” However, in an interview with ABC News on Monday, the prime minister said he would be open to short-term pauses in fighting to allow hostages to leave Gaza or deliver aid to the Palestinian people – an idea backed by the United States.
“As far as tactical short breaks – an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before. I assume we will review the circumstances to allow the entry of goods, humanitarian goods or our hostages, individual hostages. to go,” Netanyahu said.
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“But I don’t think there will be a general ceasefire.”
Smoke rises above buildings as Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, amid the Israeli army’s ongoing ground operation against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via Portal)
President Biden discussed such breaks and possible hostage releases in a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, reaffirming his unwavering support for Israel and protecting Israeli citizens from Hamas and all other threats. At the same time, he emphasized the need to protect Palestinian civilians and reduce civilian harm during the war, the White House said.
The United States also rejected calls for a ceasefire, agreeing that a complete halt to fighting would allow Hamas to regroup.
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Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday that Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children.”
“Israeli Defense Forces ground operations and sustained bombardments are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities – including shelters. Nobody is safe,” Guterres told reporters, according to Portal.
Hamas terrorist leaders are hiding in the Middle East from the war in Gaza
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28, 2023. (ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via Portal)
“At the same time, Hamas and other militants are using civilians as human shields and continuing to fire rockets indiscriminately into Israel,” he said.
The United Nations Security Council met on Monday but failed to pass a resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas.
Council member states discussed proposed resolutions for more than two hours on Monday, but the body still failed to agree on a resolution.
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The Security Council failed to agree on the appropriateness of “humanitarian ceasefires” and “humanitarian pauses” called for by some Council members to de-escalate Israel’s ongoing ground invasion.
The IDF released a video on Monday showing Israeli tanks rolling through ruins in Gaza and troops moving on foot within the territory. The military says it has surrounded Gaza City and is now hunting Hamas field commanders to hinder the terrorists’ ability to “carry out counterattacks,” Portal reported.
Netanyahu also said Monday that Israel would be responsible for the Gaza Strip’s “overall security” for an “undetermined period of time” following Hamas’ defeat.
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“I think Israel will have overall responsibility for security indefinitely because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it,” the prime minister told ABC News’ David Muir. “If we do not have this security responsibility, there will be an outbreak of Hamas terrorism on a scale that we cannot imagine.”
Biden had previously said that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a “big mistake.” In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” last month, he argued that “there has to be a Palestinian Authority” that would control the Gaza Strip and eventually lead a “Palestinian state.”
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Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion, Timothy HJ Nerozzi and Portal contributed to this report.