The Israeli army said it expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. As army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on Saturday night, troops were involved in “complex battles in densely populated areas”. They would penetrate other strongholds of Islamic Hamas. So far, ground forces have destroyed or seized about 30,000 explosive devices, including anti-tank missiles and rockets owned by Hamas.
The military had already announced that it had killed a senior Hamas official responsible for supplying weapons.
Soldiers continued to fight in densely populated areas such as the southern city of Khan Yunis and tracked “terrorist infrastructure”, especially in underground tunnels, the army spokesman said. The technical forces were therefore significantly increased. The capabilities of the division fighting there would be further expanded in the coming days. Destroying the tunnels would be time-consuming.
Below the Gaza Strip there is a whole network of tunnels that stretches for many kilometers, where, according to Israel, several Hamas terrorists are hiding and also hold Israeli hostages. To resist Israel's aerial bombs, some tunnels extend dozens of meters underground. Terrorists also use tunnels to appear seemingly out of nowhere and attack from behind. Many of the tunnels are booby-trapped to kill Israeli soldiers who enter them.
The war was triggered by the worst attack in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip. As a result, more than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and began a ground offensive in late October. Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the isolated coastal zone, Israel has recently come under increasing international pressure.