The Israeli Air Force has struck more than 50 terror infrastructure sites since the military began a major operation on Monday to root out a Hamas resurgence in eastern Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Weapon storage facilities, observation posts and structures used by Hamas terrorists were hit, as were tunnels in the area, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday. In addition, terrorists were eliminated by tank fire and aerial strikes.
At least 70 Palestinians were killed and at least 200 injured during the raid in eastern Khan Yunis, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between terrorists and noncombatants.
Around 400,000 people live in the temporary combat zone, and Palestinian officials claim they were not given enough time to leave, Channel 12 reported.
The IDF’s evacuation orders were relayed to noncombatants on Monday ahead of the operation, which covers a part of the Al-Mawasi Humanitarian Zone in which according to the Israeli military terrorists had embedded themselves, conducting attacks against troops and firing rockets at Israeli territory.
The evacuation order to the civilian population was being communicated via SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic, according to the IDF.
Hamas rocket falls short, hits school in Nuseirat area
Several projectiles launched by Hamas at Israeli territory on Monday from the area of Maghazi in central Gaza came down inside the Strip, according to the army. One of the rockets hit a school in the area of Nuseirat, the IDF said.
“The Hamas terrorist organization’s rocket fire continues to endanger both Israeli and Gazan civilians alike,” the army said.
Rafah op continues
Israeli forces have continued a months-long operation in the last Hamas bastion of Rafah in southern Gaza, over the past 24 hours killing dozens of terrorists in targeted airstrikes and close-quarters combat.
The IDF is working to dismantle Hamas’s final functioning brigade in the city along the border with Egypt’s Sinai. Since early May when the Rafah operation began, Israeli forces have taken control of the Rafah border crossing and the entire 8.7-mile Philadelphi Corridor running from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kerem Shalom crossing.
