Israel War Updates: IDF Prepares Ground Invasion, Targets High Level Hamas Leaders
by CrownHeights.info
As we head into the second week from the horrific terrorists attack on southern Israel, we present an update on the war being waged in and around Gaza.
Where we stand: At present, Israeli forces have completely cleared the areas around the Gaza strip of the terrorists who breached the Gaza border and perpetrated the terrible attack. An unprecedented number of munitions have been used on the Gaza strip by Israeli forces as they prepare the groundwork for a ground invasion. Israel also has stepped up targeted assassinations, eliminating high level Hamas operatives throughout the strip. Rocket fire from Gaza has also continued, but at a much slower pace that during and immediately following the attack.
The Lebanese border has remained mostly quiet with some sporadic attacks being retaliated on by Israeli troops followed by calm periods.
The Syrian border saw few attacks, with Israel responding strongly to one such attack and destroying the runways at the Syrian Allepo airport. The border has remained calm since then.
Updates:
– The Israeli timetable for the demand that Gazans living in the north of the strip evacuate to the south within 24 hours has been extended as Hamas blocks the roads.
– The IDF located the bodies of several missing Israelis during raids it conducted in the territory of the Gaza Strip. The information was cleared for publication on Friday evening.
– The State Department says that 29 Americans were murdered by Hamas terrorists during their brutal attack, adding two more US citizens to the tragic toll. Another 16 Americans, 15 citizens and one legal permanent resident, remain missing.
– IDF names another seven soldiers killed during fighting with Palestinian terrorists since October 7, mostly on the border with the Gaza Strip. The names bring the toll of slain soldiers to 286.
– The Pentagon has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the eastern Mediterranean near Israel to deter Iran or Hezbollah from joining the Israel-Hamas conflict.
– Iran has warned Israel it will take direct action to intervene should Israel launch a ground offensive in Gaza.
– House Republicans are moving to introduce legislation to block the United States from accepting any new Palestinian refugees who may emerge from the current crisis in Gaza.
– Murad Abu Murad, the head of the Hamas Air Force, was present when its Gaza City headquarters was destroyed by IAF fighter jets and has been reported dead.
– Ali Qadi, a company commander of the Hamas ‘Nukhba’ commando force, was also reported killed in an Israeli attack.
– An IDF reserve officer, the late Capt. Jacob Nedlin, 36 years old from Or Akiva, who served in the 7037th Battalion in the Samaria Brigade, was killed during an operational activity by Israeli forces near the village of Imtin in the Samaria Regional Brigade.
– Israeli first responders have discovered documents on the bodies of Hamas terrorists that detail the group’s intentions to harm civilians and school children. The documents included maps and plans indicating Hamas’s intent to kill or take hostages among the civilian population.
