Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces’ Nahal Infantry Brigade have returned to the Beit Lahia area of the northern Gaza Strip to fight the resurgence of Hamas terrorists there, the IDF said on Wednesday.
“In recent weeks, numerous terror targets have been attacked from the air and ground, including terrorists, weapons caches, booby-trapped buildings, launchers and tunnel shafts,” the military stated.
In one of the operations, the forces destroyed a booby-trapped building that was identified using a drone, according to the IDF. A bomb was hidden in a bag inside the building with the intent to harm troops.
The IDF also published footage showing a drone strike on two terrorist operatives who were carrying explosive devices meant to be used in an attack on soldiers. The video appeared to show secondary blasts, confirming that the terrorists were transporting explosives.
In an incident on Thursday, the IDF precisely struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center in the yard of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.
“Terrorists used the command and control center to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the army said.
The military added that the terrorist organizations within the Gaza Strip “continue to use the hospital for terrorist activity, cynically and brutally using the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings.”
The IDF re-entered Beit Lahia in March after Hamas turned down proposals to extend the ceasefire deal with Jerusalem that had gone into effect some two months earlier.
The offensive was further expanded with the launch of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” in May.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defined the war goals as returning all hostages, eliminating Hamas’s “military” and governing capabilities and ensuring Gaza will never again constitute a threat.