IAF hits 230 Hamas sites in Gaza; Rocket-fire resumes after quiet day

Red alert warnings were heard in the Gaza border communities of Nirim, Nir Oz and Magen on Thursday morning as Israeli forces continued to target Hamas across the Strip.

The sirens sounded after no rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel on Wednesday for the first time since the Oct. 7 massacre, with the exception of the Nov. 25-30 ceasefire.

Over the last day, dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked some 230 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including in the Khan Yunis area in the south, where a fighter jet destroyed a compound and eliminated the terrorists inside, and in the area of Al-Shati Camp in the coastal north.

Furthermore, a launcher loaded with rockets aimed at Israeli territory was located and destroyed in the Khan Yunis area.

In Jabalia in the north of the Strip, Israeli soldiers facilitated the orderly evacuation of civilians from a school complex southwards, and found weapons in the school.

Also, the Israeli Navy overnight Wednesday struck vessels in Gaza intended for terrorist activities, according to the IDF.

In addition to Khan Yunis and Jabalia, heavy fighting was reported in Shejaia, Al-Safatawi, Sheikh Radwan and Beit Hanun. The IDF also reportedly launched a broad attack on the Daraj a-Tupah neighborhood of Gaza City, with one of the aims being the destruction of Hamas’s rocket-launching capabilities.

Three more soldiers slain in Gaza

The IDF released for publication on Thursday morning the names of three more soldiers slain in Gaza: Sgt. Lavi Gihassi, 19, from Hashmonaim; Lt. Yaakov Elian, 20, from Ramat Gan; and Lt. Omri Schwartz, 21, from Shadmot Dvora.

They were all killed in battle in the north of the coastal enclave.

A total of 137 soldiers have been killed since the start of the Gaza ground invasion on Oct. 27; 469 soldiers have fallen since the war began on Oct. 7.