The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it had stepped up overnight airstrikes and ground forces began to maneuver deeper into the northern Gaza Strip, as the military’s death toll in the ground operation reached 63,
The Times of Israel reports.
Fighter jets struck “many” Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip towns of Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the military said.
Meanwhile, the IDF said troops of the Nahal Brigade, with tanks and air support, battled Hamas operatives on the outskirts of Jabaliya as well as Zeitoun.
In one of the clashes, troops called in a drone strike on Hamas gunmen on a rooftop, and soldiers also recovered weapons in residential homes in the area.
At the same time, navy missile ships carried out strikes on Hamas sites along Gaza’s coast, the IDF said, adding that the navy aided ground troops with observation capabilities and firepower.
Much of Rimal, once one of the Strip’s toniest neighborhoods, has been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
The military said troops have located some 35 tunnel shafts and dozens of weapons in Rimal and the Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood, and killed several Hamas operatives.
The forces also raided a Hamas military camp in the Rimal area, locating a weapons depot and seven rocket launchers, the IDF said.
