The IDF has liberated the northern Gaza neighborhoods of Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, while it is still looking for Hamas leadership in the southern Gaza neighborhood of Khan Yunis. Since Wednesday, five IDF troops have been confirmed killed in action, and the bodies of five captives have been recovered.
The IDF’s 162nd Division is now engaged in military operations in Jabaliya, Gaza, killing about 1,000 terrorists. By December 9, some 7,000 Hamas militants had been killed, according to National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, who described the figure as “a conservative estimate.” In Gaza, 3,000 people have been imprisoned.
According to Arutz Sheva, during one of the raids on the Rantisi hospital, it was discovered that captives were being held underground at the hospital but were relocated before IDF forces stormed the complex. The bodies of five citizens and soldiers kidnapped on October 7 were discovered and returned to Israel during combat activity in the adjacent neighborhood.
Forces discovered mortars and explosives inside a house near a daycare in Gaza City. A rocket launcher targeted at Israel, as well as an RPG, were recovered in an adjacent house, according to JNS. Soldiers discovered military uniforms, explosive charges, and fighting equipment inside a private home in Khan Yunis. Engineers demolished a tunnel from which terrorists emerged to fire RPGs at troops.
בפעילות של צוות קרב חטיבה 646 במרחב ג'חר א דיק, איתרו הלוחמים מחסן אמל"ח ובו אמצעי לחימה רבים. במהלך הפעילות איתרו כוחות האיסוף של החטיבה משגרי רקטות לטווח ארוך מהם בוצעו שיגורים לאחרונה לשטח ישראל. המשגרים הושמדו בתקיפה אווירית>> pic.twitter.com/lumaViZorL
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 22, 2023
Over the last two days, forces raided a school on the fringes of Al Shati in northern Gaza, where terrorists were active. According to JNS, soldiers discovered weaponry and maps connected to Hamas.
The IDF also declared operational control of Hamas’s bastion neighborhood of Shuja’iyya in northern Gaza. According to JNS, soldiers from the 36th Division engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists using rifles and explosives.
צוות הקרב של חטיבה 5 פשט על מתחם הקסבה בבית חאנון בשבוע שעבר. לוחמי צוות הקרב יחד עם סיוע אש אווירי, תצפיות וכוחות הנדסה – טיהרו את מרחב הקסבה, חיסלו מחבלים, תקפו עשרות מטרות ותשתיות טרור באמצעות הפעלת אש>> pic.twitter.com/wIAvhHbDQz
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 22, 2023
According to the Times of Israel, the IDF’s 252nd Reserve Division has completed its operations against the Hamas terror group in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza and handed over responsibility for the territory to the Gaza Division, suggesting that the military has firm control of that sector.
According to Arutz Sheva, the IDF’s 5th Brigade’s combat squad conducted operational activity at the Kasbah compound in Beit Hanoun last week. The combat teams cleared the Kasbah region, destroyed terrorists, and struck scores of terrorist targets and infrastructure with aircraft fire support, observation posts, and combat engineering units.
The forces gathered a variety of weapons, including Kalashnikov-type guns, grenades, cartridges and ammunition boxes, mortar bombs, and vests, including IDF vests, according to Arutz Sheva. The 5th Brigade discovered Hamas terrorist organization clothing, including children’s uniforms, Hamas documents and phones, and an IDF kitbag.
The IDF also discovered multiple subterranean shafts in Hamas operatives’ homes, the largest of which was in a school. Terrorists attacked the army from these tunnels the day before the brigade’s operation.
A camera recovered from the corpse of a dead terrorist by soldiers from the IDF’s 182nd brigade shows Hamas operatives planting bombs in Gaza to use against Israeli troops.
Soldiers from the 931st Battalion confronted terrorists who were firing grenades from the third story of a building. The soldiers entered the building, engaged the terrorists, and killed them. During building sweeps, soldiers discovered a camera on one of the terrorists’ bodies, which contained images of the terrorists laying IEDs and trapping areas to damage IDF forces, according to Arutz Sheva.
For three weeks, soldiers from the IDF’s 98th Division have been working in the Khan Yunis area of Gaza’s south, killing enemy personnel and terrorist infrastructure.
According to Arutz Sheva, the forces eliminated numerous terrorists in close-quarter engagements, discovered and destroyed dozens of subterranean shafts, and uncovered significant intelligence materials that contributed to the operation’s effectiveness.
The operation is accompanied by a close and precise fire plan known as the “Fire Belt.”. The 214th Artillery Brigade and the Commando Brigade strike using guided and accurate weapons such as the ‘Iron Sting’ and other precision missiles.
According to Arutz Sheva, the IDF and Shin Bet forces killed numerous terrorists by airstrikes, including the Head of Khan Yunis’ UAV Array, the Commander of the Observation Company, and field-level Nukhba Commanders in the Khan Yunis Brigade.
The 98th Division also discovered a report to Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade Commander on financial expenses for 2022, which revealed Hamas spent over a million dollars this year on the fabrication of doors and concrete for terror tunnels.
The IDF cleared the names of two fallen soldiers whose families had been notified for publication on Friday morning:
Lieutenant Shai Ayeli, 21, from Ashkelon, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
Sergeant First Class (res.) Tal Shua, 31, from Be’er Sheva, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
In addition, a reservist of the 179th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 8104th Battalion was seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
A soldier from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion was critically hurt in combat in the northern Gaza Strip, and a soldier from the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion was seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
The injured soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment, and their families were notified.
On Thursday, the names of three fallen soldiers were cleared for publication: Sergeant Lavi Ghasi, 19, from Hashmonaim, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
Lieutenant Yaacov Elian, 20, from Ramat Gan, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
Lieutenant Omri Shwartz, 21, from Moshav Shadmot Dvora, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.