Israeli forces located a tunnel shaft, weapons and night vision equipment in a children’s bedroom during operations in the Tel al-Sultan and Shabura areas of Rafah in southern Gaza, the IDF said on Wednesday.
Israeli forces are continuing to press the offensive in the former Hamas strongholds of Rafah and Khan Younis, as well as in the central Strip.
Footage of the tunnel shaft and weapons located in the children’s bedroom by the 932nd Battalion. Credit: IDF.
In his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the Rafah operation’s low civilian casualty rate.
“Despite all the lies you’ve heard, the war in Gaza has one of the lowest ratios of combatants to non-combatant casualties in the history of urban warfare. And you want to know where it’s lowest in Gaza? It’s lowest in Rafah. In Rafah,” the premier said.
“You want to know why? Because Israel got the civilians out of harm’s way, something people said we could never do, but we did it,” he added.
Dozens of terrorists killed, 50 terror sites destroyed in Khan Younis
In Khan Younis in recent days, Israeli forces killed dozens of terrorists and dismantled 50 terrorist infrastructure sites.
צוותי הקרב של חטיבה 7, צנחנים וקומנדו, בפיקוד אוגדה 98, חיסלו בימים האחרונים מספר מחבלים והשמידו כ-50 תשתיות טרור במהלך הפעילות במרחב חאן יונס.
צוות הקרב של חטיבת גבעתי ו-401, בפיקוד אוגדה 162 ממשיכים לפעול במרחב ברפיח>> pic.twitter.com/IIkhHjjXHH
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 25, 2024
The IDF’s decision to re-enter Khan Younis was driven by new intelligence on the existence of undiscovered Hamas tunnels in the area, an uptick in rocket attacks from the city and attempts by the terrorist group to reorganize there.
The IDF informed Gaza residents on Monday that it was about to enter the city, and called on the remaining population of eastern Khan Yunis to move to the newly adjusted humanitarian zone, using text messages, phone calls and Arabic-language media broadcasts.
Over the past 24 hours, the IAF struck over 60 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including military structures and terrorist infrastructure.
(JNS)
