IDF strike over 450 Hamas targets in last 24 hours

The Israel Defence Forces conducted ground operations, targeting more than 450 Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip and took control of a Hamas military compound where underground tunnels, observation points, and training areas for Hamas members were located. The operation resulted in the elimination of several Hamas militants, as reported by the Israel Defence Forces. The Israeli Navy also targeted Hamas command centres, anti-tank launch positions, and other observation stations. More Hamas militants were targeted and killed by IDF fighter planes, among them Jamal Mussa, the leader of the organization’s special security operations in Hamas. Jamal Mussa opened fire on Israeli soldiers who were roving the Gaza Strip in 1993. In addition, in intense ground combat, IDF forces killed the commanders of Hamas battalions, the Jerusalem Post reported. Israeli troops divided the northern and southern parts of Gaza, as communications across the besieged territory were temporarily cut Monday for a third time since the war started. The troops are expected to enter Gaza City on Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported. The developments came after Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing scores of people, health officials said. Israel has so far rejected U.S. suggestions that it take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza amid rising civilian deaths. The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 9,700 with more than 4,000 of them children and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.