Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on November 9 that its troops from the 933rd “Nahal” Brigade captured a stronghold of the Hamas Movement, known as outpost 17, in the west part of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip after a fierce battle that last for around ten hours.
The troops battled Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who were both “above ground and in an underground route in the area,” in the stronghold, the IDF said, adding that dozens of Palestinian fighters were killed.
Inside outpost 17, the troops located many weapons and uncovered tunnel shafts, including one that led to an “extensive underground route,” according to the IDF. The troops also found “significant” Hamas battle plans in the stronghold.
Separately, the IDF said that its troops uncovered a Hamas drone manufacturing plant and weapons depot inside a residential building in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
Footage released by the IDF showed troops finding several Hamas drones in the building, as well as equipment used to manufacture them, and instructions to make explosive devices. A number of bombs were also found there.
In addition, the IDF announced that the Air Force carried out strikes against hundreds of targets across Gaza over the past day.
One of the recent strikes on the Strip killed Ibrahim Abu-Maghsib, who was the head of Hamas’s anti-tank force in the so-called central camps brigade, according to a joint statement by the IDF and the Shin Bet security service.
Recent Israeli operations in Gaza were not without losses. The IDF admitted that a soldier of the Combat Engineering Corp’s 8219th Battalion, was killed. His death brings the toll of slain troops in Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza to 34, and 352 since the war broke out on October 7.
From its side, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that its fighters have targeted two main battle tanks, three armored personnel carriers and one armored bulldozer of the IDF with rocket-propelled grenades in northern Gaza during the morning of November 9. The group also said that an Israeli infantry unit was ambushed and eliminated near the village of Juhor al-Dik.
Moreover, several rocket attacks were launched from Gaza. Warning sirens were sounded in the nearby settlements of Kissufim and Nahal Oz as well as in the city of Ashdod. However, no material losses or casualties were reported.
The IDF appears to be determined to go on with its ground operation in Gaza, ignoring the worsening humanitarian situation in the Strip and recent calls for a temporary ceasefire. Currently, Israeli troops are working to complete control over the beach of Gaza City. Their next target will be the city itself.
