An Israel Defense Forces tank on Saturday drove over an explosive charge planted by Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said.
There were no injuries in the incident, which took place during Givati Infantry Brigade operations in the “Yellow Line area,” the IDF said.
No further details were provided.
In a separate incident, Israeli troops killed a pair of terrorists in Gaza who crossed the Yellow Line in an attempt to sabotage IDF equipment, the army said.
The soldiers opened fire and eliminated the threat, said the IDF, which labeled it a “grave” violation of the ceasefire terms.
On Thursday, the IDF targeted and killed Hudhaifa Khaled Suleiman Qawari, a company commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade of Hamas’s “military” wing.
Throughout the war, Qawari took part in training the company’s terrorists, in transferring weapons throughout the southern Gaza Strip, and in advancing efforts to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities, the IDF said.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the military added.
In a separate post on Friday, the IDF confirmed that two weeks ago, it killed a Hamas company commander in the northern Gaza Strip who had held “numerous” hostages in captivity.
Muhammad Bassam Muhammad Mushtaha served as a company commander in the Shati Battalion in the Hamas’s “military” wing, the army said.
He infiltrated Israeli territory on Oct. 7, 2023, and participated in the Hamas-led massacre that left roughly 1,200 people dead in the northwestern Negev.
The IDF gave a partial list of the hostages whom Mushtaha held in captivity: Tsachi Idan, Cpl. Noa Marciano, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, Ori Megidish, Naama Levy and Matan Angrest.
“IDF troops under the Southern Command remain deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove any threat,” the IDF stated.
Kushner slated for Israel trip
Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy, is expected to travel to Israel and Egypt next week to discuss implementation of the Trump administration’s Gaza peace plan, according to sources familiar with the matter, Axios reported on Friday.
Kushner is expected to be joined by Nickolay Mladenov, the U.S.-led Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a member of the board’s executive committee. The delegation is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials in Israel before traveling to Cairo for talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
The trip comes after Netanyahu rejected the Board of Peace’s 15-point roadmap for implementing Trump’s Gaza plan, objecting to its provisions linking an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to the phased decommissioning of Hamas and other terrorist groups’ weapons. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed, calling for “real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.”
