The Israeli Air Forces struck more than 140 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including terrorists, tunnel shafts and military infrastructure, the IDF announced on Friday.
As part of operations in the Gaza City area, Israeli troops dismantled above- and below-ground infrastructure and uncovered weapons along with numerous explosive devices planted in the area, the military said.
Separately, Israeli forces spotted a terrorist carrying a booby-trapped object nearby and called in an airstrike, which triggered secondary explosions indicating the presence of additional arms.
“We are intensifying pressure on the Hamas terrorist organization and advancing according to a structured and systematic plan to achieve the war’s objectives,” IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said on Thursday.
The IDF announced on Thursday that it killed Wael Mutrieh, a Nukhba platoon commander in Hamas’s Shati Battalion, in a strike in the Shati area of Gaza City.
According to the IDF, Mutrieh participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration of the Nahal Oz outpost bomb shelter and, during the war, was responsible for planning and carrying out attacks against Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Defrin revealed that as part of the second phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the IDF has targeted more than 2,000 terror assets across the Strip, with the air force conducting over 100 daily strikes using fighter jets, drones and helicopters—often in support of Israeli ground forces and on an “unprecedented scale.”
He said that the expanded ground operations are being carried out alongside humanitarian efforts, noting that about 700,000 Gaza City residents have evacuated to a designated safe zone in the south of the enclave.
Defrin also highlighted the plight of the 48 captives still held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. “The hostages are always at the forefront of our thoughts and at the heart of every operation we conduct,” he said.
“The IDF will continue to act with strength and responsibility until the war’s objectives are achieved: the return of the hostages and the dismantling of the Hamas regime,” he added.
