Tel Aviv [Israel], January 5: Israeli forces on Saturday demolished a neighborhood in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun that had been used by Hamas commanders as a hideout and command center, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The targeted area, known as the “Officers’ Neighborhood,” contained high-rise buildings overlooking the Israeli city of Sderot. The IDF reported that the neighborhood housed rocket launching sites, anti-tank positions, explosives, booby traps, and underground shafts.
In addition, Israeli forces struck Hamas terrorists operating along Gaza’s Salah ad-Din Highway, a critical route for humanitarian aid from the Rafah to Erez crossings. The IDF clarified that the operation took place away from the truck movements and did not disrupt the aid flow.
In another strike, Israeli aircraft targeted a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, killing four Hamas terrorists. Furthermore, the IDF’s elite Yahalom combat engineering unit discovered and dismantled a Hamas weapons manufacturing tunnel in central Gaza, seizing military equipment and machines used for weapon production.
Since October 7, Hamas attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border have resulted in over 1,200 fatalities and the abduction of 252 Israelis and foreigners. More than 30 of the remaining hostages have been declared dead, while Hamas has also held two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, along with the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.