Israeli soldiers located and dismantled ready-to-fire mortar rounds in Rafah on Saturday as forces continued their months-long military operation against Hamas terrorists entrenched in the southern Gaza city. An armed terrorist cell advancing on Israeli forces was eliminated via an air strike in the Rafah area.
Additionally, IDF troops located and dismantled tunnel shafts and underground infrastructure in the area of Tel al-Sultan, just north of Rafah city.
In the central Gaza Strip, IDF troops conducted targeted operations on military structures.
כוחות צה״ל ממשיכים לפעול ברצועה מהקרקע האוויר והים.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 21, 2024
במהלך פעילות לוחמי צוות הקרב של חטיבת גבעתי במרחב רפיח אחד מרחפני הכוח זיהה חוליית מחבלים חמושה שנעה לעברם, הכוחות הגיבו במהירות וחיסלו את החוליה. כמו כן, איתרו הלוחמים והשמידו פצמרים מוכנים לשיגור>> pic.twitter.com/DshnAZlyXO
150 terrorists killed during Gaza City operation
The IDF said on Saturday that over the past week, soldiers have killed over 150 terrorists and destroyed 100 terror infrastructure sites in the Gaza City area, as well as located an underground workshop.
Troops also conducted raids and carried out searches in an area being used by Hamas to rebuild its military, inside an UNRWA headquarters.
During the searches, troops raided buildings where Hamas terrorists were holed up, including a building in a civilian neighborhood in which a Hamas terrorist had barricaded himself. Troops located weapons, ammunition, equipment and intelligence materials.
IDF troops conducted intelligence-based searches in the @UNRWA headquarters, a building in a civilian neighborhood where a Hamas terrorist barricaded himself and multi-story buildings in the Gaza City area.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 20, 2024
The troops located: weapons, ammunition, equipment of Hamas’ naval… pic.twitter.com/qLcMdSSlaa
IDF soldier wounded
An IDF soldier from the 401st Brigade’s 52nd Battalion was severely wounded during combat operations in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the army said.
The total death toll among IDF troops since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27 now stands at 326, and at 683 on all fronts since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, according to IDF data.
Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Israel Border Police’s “Yamam” National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was mortally wounded in Gaza earlier this month during a mission to rescue four hostages.
