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IDF eliminates armed terrorists in northern Gaza Strip

The terrorist cell was said to have taken cover under debris east of the truce-instituted Yellow Line, posing an imminent threat to troops.

IDF in Gaza
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operate in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, Nov. 28, 2024. Photo by Oren Cohen/Flash90.

Israel Defense Forces troops on Saturday eliminated at least two armed terrorists believed to have emerged from a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip in violation of the ceasefire, according to the military.

“Earlier today, several armed terrorists were identified in the northern Gaza Strip, most likely after exiting underground infrastructure in the vicinity,” the IDF stated.

The terrorist cell was said to have taken cover under debris east of the ceasefire-instituted Yellow Line, posing an imminent threat to Israeli soldiers stationed adjacent to the rubble.

The Yellow Line is a demarcation established by the army as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas that went into effect on Oct. 10, 2025.

Concrete barriers topped with a yellow-painted post mark the area to which the IDF has withdrawn. The Yellow Line leaves Jerusalem in control of approximately half of the Palestinian coastal enclave.

“Following the identification, the IDF struck the armed terrorists and eliminated two of them, likely eliminating additional terrorists,” stated the military, adding that its soldiers were still carrying out searches in the area “to locate and eliminate the remaining terrorists” of the cell.

“This incident constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF concluded its statement, adding: “The IDF views any attempt by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to execute attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians with the utmost severity.”

On Friday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a situational assessment and field tour in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, during which he warned that the military was “prepared to transition from a defensive posture to an offensive one” across all war arenas.

Zamir instructed troops to continue operating to remove threats in the Strip, with an emphasis on dismantling underground Hamas infrastructure, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit’s readout.

“The IDF is deployed along a security border—the Yellow Line—and is overseeing the crossings to the Gaza Strip,” the chief of staff said. “For any violation, we will respond and degrade [terrorists’] capabilities.”

Zamir vowed that the IDF would not give up on the objectives of the war, namely the disarmament of Hamas and the entire Gaza Strip.

Phase 2 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip calls for Hamas terrorists to lay down their arms with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to the Strip.

Trump warned on Jan. 21 that the terror group would be “blown away very quickly” if it fails to lay down weapons during the current phase.

Speaking at a question-and-answer session in Davos, Switzerland, after his address to the World Economic Forum, the president said Hamas had “agreed to give up their weapons” as part of his peace proposal.

However, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, vowed on Wednesday that the terror group would not lay down its weapons until Israel is “eliminated.”

“We have been very clear with mediators, and in our messages passed on to the relevant parties, that the matter of Palestinian weapons is linked to the presence or elimination of the occupation,” stated Hamdan, referencing Israel in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“To this day, the Palestinian national motto states that the occupation needs to be eliminated,” he stated. “The weapons are legal according to international law, and by virtue of the will of the Palestinian people, so these weapons will not be laid down until their goal is achieved.”

Hamas’s official charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and refers to parts of the Quran that call for Muslims to kill Jews everywhere.

The U.S. vice president said Israeli officials sought to shape U.S. public opinion against the administration’s Iran strategy, rejected accusations that he is anti-Israel and defended maintaining a relationship based on shared interests.
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