A moment later, the flames of the explosions, possibly caused by the explosive vests they were wearing. A “sacrificial” mission carried out by Hamas and documented on video. The attack is evidence that fighting has become increasingly intense. But there is a second element that underscores the atrocity: the number of Israeli victims is rising rapidly, with 63 reported deaths now. Thirteen between Saturday and Sunday, including a sapper from Yahalom, the unit tasked with discovering the tunnels.
The General Staff launched operations from west to east while other units advanced into the Jabaliya field and the central area. The tactics are, if possible, repetitive: tanks and artillery fire at any building that poses a threat, the armored bulldozers do the rest by destroying buildings and exposing the road surface. Only after the hammer blow does the infantry act amidst the dangers. Numerous fedayeen were captured: about a hundred were transferred to Israel, including three elements involved in the October 7 massacres. The Mujahideen seem to offer greater resistance: snipers, anti-tank teams and those with grenades are always the protagonists. They try to hit the armored vehicles in the weak spots, maybe they don’t destroy them, but they manage to immobilize them in order to then launch ambushes.
Progress does not mean that the “shoulders” are secure. The army is constantly searching for the entrances to the tunnels used by the militiamen. According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post after a visit, the General Staff found new solutions, but they were not fully disclosed. One official spoke of an “industrial system” that comes from the mining world and makes special interventions in the country. But that is not the only means: in the future, again for everyday use, they could try to use the water of the Mediterranean to flood the tunnels. An alternative to the method the Egyptians used years ago in Rafah, when they diverted wastewater to the areas where the smugglers’ tunnels were located.
Along with attention to daily developments, questions about tomorrow continue. Jerusalem has made it clear that it will soon take over the southern sector. It’s Ignatius again, collecting a scenario. Dramatic. The Israelis could divide the southern part into two parts as war activities intensify on Khan Younis, which is considered the actual base of the factions, and set up a large refugee camp in the town of Mawasi, close to the border with Egypt and thus a supply route. However, it is difficult to understand how an exhausted population can resist under such conditions.
Finally, Israel has released a video recorded by a drone lowered into the tunnel near Al-Shifa Hospital: at a depth of 10 meters, a 55-meter-long underground concrete walkway is clearly visible, equipped with electrical Light is equipped and what looks like an armored door extends up to 10 meters deep. This is a new contribution from Jerusalem that aims to show how a Palestinian command center was located beneath the medical complex and was connected to a larger network.