(JNS) Hamas terrorists surrendered to Israeli soldiers during an IDF operation in the Beit Hanoun area of northeastern Gaza, the military said on Saturday.
Troops from the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Combat Team, operating under the 162nd Armored Division, identified several terrorists emerging from a tunnel shaft earlier in the day.
In footage released by the IDF, the terrorists were seen exiting an underground shaft wearing nothing but underwear. They placed their hands over their heads and turned themselves in to the troops.
The soldiers questioned them on the spot, learning that the terrorists had planned to flee after another terrorist who was with them in the tunnel died in a clash with IDF soldiers, the army said.
The prisoners disclosed information about a nearby weapons cache and led the troops to it, the military added.
“Numerous weapons were seized at the site, including vests, magazines, grenades and firearms. Inside the tunnel, equipment for prolonged stays was found—food, water and hygiene supplies,” the IDF said.
The Hamas gunmen were transferred for further interrogation by security forces, the weapons found were confiscated, and the tunnel is now being examined by combat engineering units operating in the area.
תיעוד מיוחד מבית חאנון: מחבלים בחמאס נכנעים ללוחמי צק״ח גבעתי שמכריעים את גדוד בית חאנון
היום, פעלו לוחמי צוות הקרב החטיבתי של גבעתי, בפיקוד אוגדה 162, במרחב בית חאנון שבצפון רצועת עזה.
במהלך הפעילות, זיהו הלוחמים מספר מחבלים שיצאו מתוך פיר מנהרה במרחב, המחבלים נכנעו לכוחות… pic.twitter.com/UTTCgs06iQ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 2, 2025
Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion, which posed a threat to Kibbutz Nir Am and the city of Sderot, “has surrendered and is being defeated by Givati Brigade forces,” the IDF said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted: “Hamas terrorists are surrendering in Beit Hanoun. They emerge from the tunnels into the devastated city.” He added that the military was destroying its enemies above and below ground.
Also on Saturday, the IDF announced that it killed terrorist Salah al-Din Za’atra, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Al-Furqan Battalion, aka the Sheikh Radwan Battalion, based in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district.
Za’atra, who was slain on July 24, previously served as the commander of the battalion’s combat support company, the army said.
Meanwhile over the weekend, IDF troops identified four Hamas terrorists near an area in northern Gaza where the troops were operating and directed an aircraft that struck and eliminated them, the military added. Several terrorists were also killed by shell fire, the IDF said.
In southern Gaza, IDF troops eliminated terrorists and dismantled terrorist infrastructure, the military stated.
“IDF troops continue to operate to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure above and below ground,” the IDF said.
The IDF has been operating systematically throughout the Strip since it launched “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” on May 4.
On July 27, the military announced that troops from the 646th “Marom Foxes” Reservist Paratroopers Brigade had dismantled a Hamas tunnel and hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites during operations over the past three months across several areas of the Gaza Strip.
Operating under the 99th Infantry Division, soldiers targeted locations in the Netzarim Corridor, Gaza City’s Shejaiya and Daraj Tuffah neighborhoods and Beit Hanoun. The IDF said troops uncovered and destroyed military structures, weapons caches and firing and observation positions used by terrorist organizations.
Approximately 400 terrorists were killed in coordinated operations with the Israeli Air Force, according to the military.
In recent days, the 646th Brigade, supported by the elite Yahalom engineering unit, located and dismantled a 500-meter-long Hamas tunnel in Beit Hanoun, as part of ongoing efforts to disrupt the group’s underground networks.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
