The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday began conducting ground operations to dismantle terror infrastructure in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Simultaneously, troops continued ground activity in the northern and central Strip, as the Israeli Air Force struck terrorists and their assets across the Palestinian enclave.
In recent months, Hamas terrorists exploited a site in northern Gaza—which previously served as the “Turkish” hospital—as a command-and control-center, from which they directed and carried out terrorist attacks against troops and the State of Israel,” according to the military.
In response, IDF troops on Thursday destroyed terrorist infrastructure at the site.
“The IDF will continue to operate against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” according to the statement.
Earlier Thursday, the IDF initiated a ground operation along the coastal axis in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza. Ahead of the offensive, the IAF carried out strikes on Hamas “military” infrastructure and anti-tank missile-launch positions in the area.
The IDF has also expanded its ground operations in central Gaza as part of its effort to retake the Netzarim Corridor defensive zone between the north and south of the Strip.
On Thursday morning, IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a warning on X, notifying Gaza residents of the operation and urging them to avoid travel along the Salah al-Din Road, the Strip’s main highway, which runs more than 28 miles, from the Rafah Crossing to Egypt in the south to the Erez Crossing to Israel in the north. Movement between northern and southern Gaza is only permitted via the parallel al-Rashid Street (the coastal road), he said.
Adraee emphasized that the IDF does not intend to harm civilians and advised residents to keep their distance from Israeli forces operating in the defensive and other military zones.
The IDF announced on Thursday afternoon that Hamas terrorist Rashid Jahjuh, chief of its General Security Forces, was eliminated in a strike. Rashid Jahjuh replaced Sami Oudeh, whom Israel killed in July 2024.
A second Israeli strike was said to have killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Ismail Abd al-Aal, identified by the military as a “central terrorist” in the Iranian-backed terrorist organization’s unit for weapons smuggling.
Israel resumed military operations in Gaza earlier this week after Hamas rejected U.S.-backed ceasefire-extension proposals. The operation, dubbed “Strength and Sword,” began with a wave of heavy airstrikes targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad positions across the enclave.
On Thursday evening, Defense Minister Israel Katz approved renewed battle plans for the Gaza Strip during a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior security officials, his office said.
“We already see that the military pressure affects Hamas’s position. We will not stop until the hostages are released,” Katz said at the meeting.