Day 84/85 – IDF dismantling infrastructure in northern Gaza as forces advance in the south

The Israeli army continued to fight battles in northern Gaza's last unsecured areas while its forces advanced further south into the town of Khan Younis over the weekend.

Ground operations focused on the areas of al-Bureij and Nuseirat in the north – backed by air and artillery strikes – while in the south, the large town of Khan Younis was the main theater of operations, according to the IDF.

IDF soldiers of the 7th Armored Brigade raided a Hamas intelligence headquarters in the city and located another intelligence HQ belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group.

During the fighting in Khan Younis, the 460th Brigade battlegroup eliminated dozens of terrorists hiding in tunnels and civilian buildings by issuing target airstrikes, as well as the use of tanks and snipers.

In preparation for deeper maneuvers into the heart of the city, the 98th Division and the Air Force destroyed some 50 targets, including tunnels and other military positions that would threaten ground forces and their availability to advance.

In addition, the 5th Brigade battlegroup began operating in Khirbat Ahza on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis, which served as a staging ground from which terrorists launched the surprise attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel on Oct. 7.

The 5th Brigade has already successfully eliminated several terrorists and located dozens of tunnel shafts and weapons caches.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding in his hometown of Khan Younis, after fleeing the terror group’s command centers in Gaza City during the fighting.

On Friday, Israeli troops discovered an apartment belonging to Sinwar in Gaza City that was being used as a hideout. The apartment was connected to a large tunnel system underneath, which was found by the elite Yahalom combat engineering commandos who mapped and later destroyed it.

In the northern Gaza Strip, most neighborhoods have largely been secured and are now being methodically searched for remaining terrorists and their hideouts, while the infrastructure is mapped and destroyed.

Soldiers of the 261st Officers School Brigade raided the home of a Hamas terrorist in Jabaliya, finding weapons and instruction material about the Israeli army.

In Shejaiya, soldiers of the 414th Recon Battalion spotted a terrorist squad and directed an airstrike to eliminate it.

More than 30 terrorists were killed in Gaza City over the weekend, with 15 of them eliminated from the air in the span of three hours.

In the al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, the 188th Armored Brigade fought gunmen hiding among civilian refugees in a school. Most of them were captured in a raid, while other terrorists hiding nearby were killed.

The forces also found and destroyed three rocket launchers and nine tunnel shafts in the area.