Israeli Air Force targets 200 Hamas sites in Gaza, including operatives, weapon facilities, and tunnels, as reported by the Israel Defense Forces.
By Joshua Marks, JNS
The Israeli Air Force has struck 200 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including terrorist operatives, weapon production sites, anti-tank missile launchers and operational command centers, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Overnight Monday, Israeli naval forces struck a facility used by Hamas naval forces for training and weapons storage.
Israeli forces operating on the ground in Gaza also uncovered a tunnel shaft in a mosque, the IDF said on Tuesday.
Israel transfers incubators to Shifa Hospital
Also on Tuesday, the IDF announced the start of an “extensive” effort to transfer incubators to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
“The pediatric ward at Shifa Hospital needs assistance. Israel is ready to assist. We made a formal offer to health officials in Gaza to transfer incubators into the Gaza Strip to assist the pediatric ward of Shifa Hospital,” said Shani Sasson, spokeswoman for Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
“Extensive efforts are underway to insure that these incubators… can reach babies in Gaza without delay. Our war is against Hamas and not the people of Gaza,” said Sasson.
The IDF published a recording of a phone call between a senior officer from the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) and the director general of Shifa regarding the transfer of the incubators.
Hamas prevented a previous attempt by the IDF to supply fuel to the hospital, which is the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip.
As Israeli forces close in on what the IDF says is a Hamas headquarters under the hospital, the Israeli military has established a safe evacuation route from the facility.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has provided extensive evidence that Hamas bases its military activities in civilian sites such as hospitals, mosques and schools.
On Monday, the IDF released a six-minute video featuring IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari walking through an underground tunnel connected to Rantisi Hospital. According to the IDF the tunnel is one of many used by Hamas terrorists to hide, prepare for attacks and, in this case, hold Israeli hostages.
Signs showed that the terror group had kept hostages in the basement of Rantisi Hospital alongside a variety of explosives.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Israel and Hamas are working on a deal for the release of up to 70 women and children hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel and a five-day truce.
Two more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
The IDF on Tuesday published the names of two more soldiers killed in the northern Gaza Strip.
Staff Sgt. Roee Marom, 21, of Ra’anana, was a squad commander in the 906th battalion of the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders, also known as the Bislamach Brigade.
At least 50 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza and at the Lebanon border since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27; 365 Israeli soldiers have died since the war started.
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets at Israel on a daily basis, with sirens sounding on Monday morning in communities close to the Gaza border. More than 9,500 rockets have been fired at Israeli civilians since Oct. 7.
IDF hits Hezbollah sites in response to rocket launches
Meanwhile, escalations continue on the northern front, with the IDF reporting that on Monday night rocket launches were identified from Lebanon toward an IDF post in the area of Kibbutz Malkia in northern Israel.
Israel’s aerial defense array intercepted one rocket and the others fell in an open area, according to the military.
IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, including operational command centers, in response to the launches.
On Tuesday, IDF air defenses intercepted a “suspicious target” off the coast of Akko.
No sirens sounded in the northern city as the target was not deemed a threat to the population.
It was cleared for publication that the two people injured on Monday by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon towards the area of Netu’a, a moshav near the border, were IDF soldiers who were seriously wounded.