by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday intensified ground and air operations in Gaza City, striking hundreds of targets, eliminating terrorists, and dismantling Hamas infrastructure across multiple fronts.
Troops from the 162nd Division engaged terrorists just 200 meters from IDF positions, eliminating them through rapid fire coordination. Soldiers uncovered rifles, grenades, and explosives hidden among rubble and dismantled over 20 Hamas military sites, including tunnel shafts, booby-trapped buildings, and sniper posts.
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit nearly 100 terrorist targets, ranging from underground facilities and weapons depots to Hamas cells preparing to launch attacks.
Senior Hamas Commander Eliminated
In the northern Gaza Strip, IDF troops directed an IAF strike that killed Sim Mahmoud Yusuf Abu Alkhir, deputy head of Military Intelligence in Hamas’s Bureij Battalion. He was reportedly involved in orchestrating attacks against both Israeli civilians and soldiers. The military said precision munitions and aerial surveillance were used to minimize collateral damage.
In the south, Israeli forces pressed forward in Khan Yunis and Rafah, eliminating armed operatives and destroying dozens of Hamas assets, including an operations room struck with an IAF-guided strike.
The fighting continues to take a toll on Israeli forces. On Thursday, the IDF confirmed four soldiers were killed in an IED blast in southern Gaza.
Since Israel’s ground incursion began on October 27, 2023, 464 soldiers have fallen in Gaza, with the nationwide death toll across all fronts rising to 910 since Hamas’s October 7 massacre that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken.
“Gaza Will Be Destroyed”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said this week that Israeli forces had already destroyed 25 “terror towers” in Gaza City and warned Hamas that unless it releases the remaining 48 hostages and surrenders, Gaza “will be destroyed and turned into a monument to the rapists and murderers of Hamas.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir echoed that message, telling troops during a battlefield assessment: “You are carrying out the most moral and important duty–the return of all the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.”
Civilian Evacuations and Humanitarian Measures
The IDF estimates some 550,000 Gazans have already fled Gaza City, with another 600,000 remaining. Satellite images show heavy traffic on designated evacuation routes, though the military accuses Hamas of blocking civilians from leaving to use them as human shields.
To mitigate the humanitarian crisis, the IDF says it has established a humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis, expanded field hospitals, and facilitated supplies of food, water, medicine, and tents to southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas released images of hostages on Telegram, warning that their lives are at risk due to the Israeli offensive.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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