Israeli army claims to continue operations in Gaza

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army claimed Friday that it will continue military operations in the north, south and central areas of the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian factions continue to resist.

It came in a statement that coincided with an announcement in six statements via Telegram by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, that it targeted seven tanks, sniped a soldier and executed a complex operation against an Israeli force in the Jabalia refugee camp.

The Israel army said, “Brigade 162 continues its activity in the Rafah area,” claiming that “over the past 24 hours, soldiers from the combat groups of Brigades 401, Givati, and Nahal conducted reconnaissance operations searching for combat means and infrastructure belonging to Hamas in the area.”

It claimed that “as part of the reconnaissance operations, the forces found warehouses for storing combat means, as well as tunnel openings and other hostile infrastructure in the area and destroyed them.”

The army pointed out that "Unit 99 continues its activity in the central Gaza Strip."

“Over the past 24 hours, forces from the unit, in cooperation with the air force, targeted an armed cell that carried out launching operations towards Israeli army soldiers in the strip,” it said.

The statement indicated that the army "observed last night the firing of two rocket shells from the Gaza City area towards the southern region, which fell in an open area."

It explained that "during the night hours, an air force unit attacked the platform from which the two rocket shells were launched and destroyed it."

The army also noted that "Unit 98 continues its activity in the heart of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip."

“As part of the precise raid operations in the area, soldiers from the combat groups of Units 7, 460, and paratroopers killed dozens of militants and destroyed rocket launch platforms along with underground tunnel openings,” it claimed.

It pointed out that “simultaneously, the forces found many combat means, including explosives, mortar shells, Kalashnikov rifles, sniper rifles, and others.”​​​​​​​

While Palestinian factions did not comment on the army's claims until 1200 GMT on Friday afternoon, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced it targeted seven tanks in various confrontation areas, mostly in Jabalia.

It said it "targeted an Israeli tank of type Merkava 4 with a Shawaz explosive device north of Jabalia camp."

Earlier Friday, Al-Qassam indicated that it "targeted two Israeli tanks of type Merkava 4 with two Yasin 105 shells on al-Ajarma Street in Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip, in addition to detonating an Israeli tank of type Merkava 4 with a Shawaz explosive device in Al-Qasasib neighborhood in Jabalia camp.”

It said it also targeted "3 Israeli tanks with Yasin 105 shells and Shawaz explosives in the Zare Hill area northeast of Rafah city," according to a statement.

The Jabalia axis also witnessed Al-Qassam carrying out a complex operation, where it said elements “lured a special Israeli force to a tunnel and clashed with its members from point zero and detonated an anti-personnel explosive device on them, resulting in a dead and a wounded north of Jabalia camp."

It reported “sniping an Israeli soldier inside a house north of Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli army did not comment on Al-Qassam's statements.

Earlier Friday, the Israeli army announced that eight soldiers were injured, including seven in the Gaza Strip, during the past 24 hours, without revealing the circumstances of the injuries.

The number of Israeli soldiers wounded since the beginning of the war against Gaza on Oct. 7 hit 3,581, up from 3,573 recorded Thursday, according to the army’s figure.

Ground battles alone, which began Oct. 27 in Gaza, have left 1,781 injured among the ranks of the Israeli army.

At least 634 Israeli soldiers and officers have been killed since the beginning of the war, including 282 in ground battles, according to the Israeli army's website.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala