Israeli airstrikes rocked Gaza during a night of heavy bombardment after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday it is “expanding ground operations” in the besieged enclave, where communications links have reportedly been severed,
CNN reports.
In a statement Saturday, the IDF said its warplanes hit 150 underground targets in northern Gaza overnight, striking what it called terror tunnels and underground combat spaces and killing several Hamas operatives.
Among those killed was Asem Abu Rakaba, the man in charge of Hamas’ aerial assets, who had taken part in planning the October 7 attacks on Israel and “directed the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders,” the IDF said.
The IDF is “operating forcefully” on all fronts and will “continue striking Gaza City,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Friday, repeating previous warnings that civilians should evacuate as he announced the intensified ground operation.
Gaza residents told CNN that the evening’s airstrikes were the most intense they have experienced since Israel began to retaliate against Hamas’ October 7 terror attack around three weeks ago.
Speaking to CNN by phone from near Gaza’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one eyewitness, Salem Ahmad Ammar, told CNN that he and his wife had decided to separate in hopes that one would survive to care for their kids.
“Don’t know if I (will) live to see the daylight tomorrow morning,” Ammar said. “I split from my wife, and the kids went to her parents’ house, and I came to the hospital here in the event we die in different places and maybe one of us would live and our kids will live. Difficult choices we are making.”
