Day 27: Fighting intensifies as IDF troops attempt to encircle Gaza City

Israel Defense Forces announced that dozens of terrorists were killed on Wednesday night.

“During the night, IDF fighters from the Golani Brigade and armored forces encountered terrorist squads who fired anti-tank fire at them, set off explosive devices and threw grenades. The forces waged prolonged battles with the terrorists, with the help of brigade fire from artillery and tanks, while directing an aircraft for an attack from the air and directing a missile ship for an attack from the sea. At the end of the fighting, dozens of terrorists were killed,” the IDF statement read.

The IDF also announced on Thursday morning that the encirclement of the city was almost complete, after which the forces will take action to eradicate all Hamas leaders and fighters within the city. 

Brig.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, the commander of the IDF’s 162nd Division, confirmed the soldiers were “at the gates of Gaza City.” 

The Israeli Air Force carried out a second airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp on Wednesday, striking a Hamas command and control complex located in a high-rise building. 

The Hamas-controlled Civil Defense said the strike killed 80 people and injured hundreds more. 

The IDF said the airstrike was carried out “based on precise intelligence.” 

“Hamas deliberately builds its terror infrastructure under, around, and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians,” the IDF stated. 

It was the second airstrike on a high-rise residential building in Jabaliya in two days. 

According to Ynet News, Hamas sent a group of about 100 women and children towards the IDF soldiers to serve as a human wall during the IDF operation to secure the Hamas base in Jabaliya.

"We are prepared for more cases of such cynical and blatant use of the population," one of the officers told Ynet.

Israel has been warning residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate for several weeks, telling them the area is a war zone. The IDF also halted its policy of providing a warning before airstrikes once the ground invasion began. 

The IDF has continued to warn residents to flee, dropping leaflets in Arabic and English instructing the citizens to flee to safety. 

The instructions of the leaflet read: "To the residents of the Gaza Strip, your time is running out. The moment the IDF entered the Gaza Strip became a reality. We remind you that you are now offered an opportunity to save your life, the decision is in your hands."

The IDF also dropped additional leaflets with a message promising to give a reward for any information about the captives taken to Gaza. 

“If you have credible information about the location of abductees, dead or alive, or if you hold abductees in your hands, we give you an opportunity to announce it. We recommend that you contact us as soon as possible and give us the exact information and we will guarantee you and your family a monetary reward and a better future,” the leaflet read.

The IDF permitted two more names of fallen soldiers to be published on Thursday morning, bringing the total of soldiers killed in action (KIA) to 17 since the beginning of the ground campaign. 

After Israel announced it would allow up to 100 humanitarian aid trucks per day to enter the Gaza Strip through the southern Rafah Crossing on the border of Egypt, aid trucks have continued to enter the strip with humanitarian supplies. 

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories reported on Wednesday night that 61 truckloads of humanitarian aid – food, water and medical equipment – entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing during that day.

Israel said it will not allow fuel to enter the Strip, as it fears the fuel would be confiscated by Hamas. The IDF has released several pieces of evidence showing that Hamas controls the fuel in the Gaza Strip, including fuel in hospitals.