IDF ‘Deepens Gains’ in Northern Gaza

Ten mortar shells fired from Lebanon at the Shlomi area in northern Israel • IDF releases the names of five more casualties.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

Israeli forces continue to fight and deepen their gains in the northern Gaza Strip, with the military reporting Sunday morning that over the past 24 hours, the 933rd Nahal Infantry Brigade engaged Hamas terrorists on the outskirts of Jabalya.

A terror cell preparing to fire on troops from the roof of a residential building was eliminated in an air strike, according to the IDF. Weapons and military equipment were also found in residential buildings in the neighborhood.

Israeli Navy commandos assisted ground forces from their position off the Gaza coast, attacking Hamas targets “using thousands of munitions from the sea” and assisting ground forces “with fire and observation by opening axes, escorting with fire, thwarting land threats against our forces and providing cover for land missions from the sea,” according to the IDF.

Also Sunday, Israeli soldiers discovered 35 tunnel shafts and seized weapons in Gaza City. The shafts and tunnels were discovered during raids on the homes of Hamas officials in the upscale Rimal and Sheikh Ijlin neighborhoods. A number of Hamas terrorists were killed in the fighting.

Israeli forces simultaneously raided a Hamas “military” camp where ammunition depots and seven rocket launchers were uncovered.

Israel began “Operation Swords of Iron” on Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists penetrated the Gaza border, rampaging across the northwestern Negev—murdering 1,200, wounding over 5,000 others and taking more than 200 hostages back to the Strip.

Lebanon

Sirens sounded in northern Israel on Sunday morning as the IDF reported that 10 mortar shells were launched from Lebanon at the area of Shlomi, falling in open areas.

The IDF struck the source of fire in response.

IAF fighter jets on Sunday morning struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanese territory.

Israeli casualties continue to mount

The names of two more fallen soldiers were released for publication by the IDF on Sunday morning, followed by the announcement in the afternoon of three additional troops killed in action in Gaza.

Capt. (res.) Roy Bieber, 28, from Tzur Moshe, of the Special Operations Engineering Unit (Yahalom) fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Sgt. Binyamin Meir Arli, 21, from Beit Shemesh, of the 101st Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, fell in battle in northern Gaza on Saturday.

Maj. (res.) Yakir Biton, 34, from Jerusalem, a fighter in Battalion 8717 of the 261st Brigade, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Sgt. Maj. Rani Tahan, 40, from Sde Nehemia, an operations sergeant in the 261st Reserve Brigade’s 8717th Battalion, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Maj. (res.) Chen Yahalom, 35, from Kfar Azar, an officer in the 8159th Battalion of the Artillery Corps, fell on Saturday. The circumstances of his death were not disclosed by the military.

At least 67 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza, at the Lebanon border and in Judea and Samaria since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27; 383 Israeli soldiers have died since the war started on Oct. 7.