The IDF initiated a broad re-invasion of Gaza City center on Monday for the first time since January, including accompanying tanks and air strikes The Jerusalem Post has confirmed.
Reports started trickling in earlier Monday from Reuters citing Palestinian residents, who said IDF tanks had rolled into the city amid heavy fire.This is the fifth re-invasion of the Gaza Strip by the IDF since it achieved operational control over northern Gaza and central Gaza in January-February, but the first widespread incursion into the biggest city in the Strip.Prior repeat incursions included: Shifa Hospital, Jabalya, Nuseirat, and a current operation in Shejaia.The repeated incursions have been controversial. On one hand, the IDF says it shows it can break Hamas apart the second it tries to reconstitute itself.
Israel Air Force jets strike Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. July 8, 2024. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit).
On the other hand, it seems to show that the IDF’s initial ability to dismantle Hamas around Gaza has neither removed Hamas politically nor yet crushed it militarily.The IDF said troops of the 99th Division operated in the Gaza City UNRWA headquarters, among other locations.Overnight Sunday, the Israel Air Force (IAF) carried out strikes in the center of the Gaza Strip.Following Palestinian reports of IDF strikes in Jabalya, the military confirmed at around 1 a.m. that it had attacked Hamas targets in the central Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian reports, at least 10 people were killed in the strikes.The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Zeitun neighborhood located to the south of Gaza City, where the IDF has already operated in earlier stages of the fighting, was evacuated during the night. Palestinian media and Al Jazeera reported attacks in Mamdan, in the city’s industrial area, and also in the neighborhoods of Al-Tufah and Shajaia.
The military said that during the overnight strikes, it targeted Hamas infrastructure used to carry out attacks against troops. In one strike, an aircraft targeted a Hamas sniper.Later on Monday, the IDF said that troops of the 162nd Division killed 30 Hamas fighters who posed a threat to troops in the Rafah area and located tunnel shafts and weapons.
In Khan Yunis and Gaza City, the IAF struck two launch pads readied for missile fire into Israel.In Shejaia, troops of the 98th Division destroyed terror infrastructure and eliminated dozens of gunmen who operated anti-tank missiles and rocket units of the terror group.Officer severely wounded in northern Gaza Strip
Early on Monday, IDF updated that a combat officer from the 82nd Battalion, "Golan Storm" Brigade 7, was severely wounded in combat in the northern Gaza Strip. The officer was evacuated for medical treatment, and his family has been informed.
A combat officer from the 82nd Battalion, “Golan Storm” Brigade 7, was severely wounded in the northern Gaza Strip fighting, the IDF said.Later Monday, the IDF reported that an Israel Air Force fighter jet successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that had made its way into Israel from the Red Sea. The target did not cross into Israel, so there was no alert, according to policy.On the northern front, the IDF spokesman reported that the aerial defense array intercepted a suspicious aerial target over Lebanon.The target did not cross Israeli territory, so here too no alert was issued.