Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on April 13 warned the Hamas Movement that if it refuses to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will intensify its operations in the Gaza Strip
“Hundreds of thousands of [Palestinian] residents have already evacuated and tens of percent of Gaza’s territory has become part of Israel’s security areas,” Katz said in a statement, referring to the IDF’s buffer zone on the Gaza border.
“The main goal is to exert heavy pressure on Hamas for it to return to the framework of a hostage release. As long as Hamas persists in its refusal, the IDF activity will intensify,” he added.
The threat came right after the IDF announced that a rocket launched from Gaza was intercepted by its air defenses. Warning sirens sounded at the settlement of Re’im amid the attack. However, no casualties or damage was reported by Hebrew media.
Later, the IDF issued a mass evacuation warning for Palestinians in the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The rocket was reportedly launched from there.
In a post on the X social network, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, published a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.
Separately, the IDF announced in a statement that more than 90 targets were struck in different parts of Gaza in the past 48 hours.
Among the targets was a Hamas command center in the area of the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, the military said, adding that a weapons depot used to store explosives that Hamas fighters used in attacks on troops was also targeted.
The other targets included a rocket launching site used to fire a projectile at southern Israel, weapon depots, cells of fighters, and other Hamas infrastructure, according to the military.
The strikes come as troops continue ground operations in different parts of Gaza. The IDF said that the 36th Division destroyed weapons and other Hamas infrastructure and directed strikes on Hamas fighters in the Morag Corridor in the south of the Gaza
Also in the south of the Strip, the military reported that the Gaza Division located additional weapons and infrastructure and killed operatives in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood.
Meanwhile in northern Gaza, the military said that the 252nd Division destroyed additional Hamas infrastructure, including tunnel shafts and buildings used by the group, and killed several fighters trying to plant a bomb.
In a separate statement, the IDF said that a 1.2-kilometer-long tunnel was recently destroyed by troops from the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit during operations in the north of the Strip.
Also, during operations in the area, the military said that Israeli troops using a drone spotted a cell of fighters trying to plant a bomb. An Israeli Air Force drone struck and killed the fighters a short while later.
More than 1,500 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed since the IDF resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar last January.
The IDF has so far captured several key areas in northern, central and southern Gaza without facing any real resistance. Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions appear to be completely exhausted and unable to reorganize. Thus, it is expected that a new ceasefire and hostage deal more favorable for Israel will soon be accepted.
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the criminals at it again – what to do. evict the bastards to kingdom come!
wonderful neighborhood of death they are creating for people huh…out of babylon they picked up a new religion.: this is the parable of serving two masters revealed.
the zionist are driven by fear and american money as criminals they will never be secure . they have become predatory leaches even upon their american host .
remember uss liberty.
gazans go “bye-bye”…heheheh
i wonder what kind of military operation is this. no real battles but still fightings and conquests. where is hamas now?
are the “elite” idf units the ones who video themselves in women’s lingerie?
are these iof sources that sf quoted? 🤔
here we go again. israel repeats for the 999th time that hamas is defeated. then proceeds to keep trying to defeat them. hehehehehehehehe