IDF tanks advanced to the edge of Gaza city in the early hours of Monday morning, taking control of a key road and engaging with fighters, taking out “dozens” of terrorists.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) ground operation into Gaza expanded overnight, with dozens of terrorists said to have been killed by coordinated land and air attacks. IDF tanks are now on the edge of Gaza city, with the Salahedin road blocked and vehicles trying to access it being fired upon, The Times of Israel reports.
Wires service Agence France Presse cites a Hamas spokesman who said they were engaged in “heavy fighting” in northern Gaza.
IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari published footage of the latest fighting to social media on Monday morning and wrote IDF forces had expanded ground operations overnight, and that “In clashes with terrorists in the Gaza Strip, IDF fighters eliminated dozens of terrorists who had barricaded themselves in buildings and tried to attack the forces.” In one case, he said, IDF soldiers led an air raid on a “meeting building of the terrorist organisation Hamas” which had 20 “terrorist operatives” inside.
In further updates from the IDF, it was stated operations had taken out anti-tank positions and “squads” of terrorists who attempted to counter the counterattack. Hagari said four Hamas commanders had been killed in the morning’s fighting.
Today’s advances towards Gaza City follow other progress yesterday, as reported, with IDF armoured vehicles pictured on the beach in Gaza. Per the Israeli government, the IDF killed a number of fighters leaving a terror tunnel in Gaza. The enhanced strikes into Gaza come as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the military was now engaging in a new “second stage” in their war against Hamas.
Israel is facing a “do or die” moment, he said, and that: “We now face that test and I have no doubt how it will end: We will be the victors. We will do and we will be the victors.”