IDF strikes gunmen, command centers in northern Gaza
The Israeli military struck multiple targets throughout northern Gaza on Saturday as it continued its offensive against terror groups in the area.
On Saturday evening the IDF said that a cell of around 10 gunmen were killed in a drone strike in Jabalia earlier in the day. The IDF said the terror operatives had been spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who called in the strike, adding that no soldiers were hurt in the incident.
Separately, Israeli fighter jets struck a group of Hamas operatives at a former school in Gaza City’s Shati camp, the military announced.
According to health officials and media reports in Gaza, the strike on the Abu Assi School, which was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killed at least 10 people and wounded around 20 others.
The IDF said that the Hamas operatives had set up a command center within the former UN-run school, and were using it to plan “imminent” attacks against troops operating in Gaza. To mitigate civilian harm, the IDF said it used a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
“The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terror activity,” the IDF said, adding that it will continue to operate against terror operatives who use civilian sites.
Earlier on Saturday, in a relatively rare occurrence 13 months into the war against Hamas in Gaza, rocket sirens sounded in the southern town of Sderot and several other communities near the Gaza Strip.
The military later said that two rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza and both were intercepted.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, at least 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes across the enclave on Saturday, bringing the total people killed in Gaza during the war to 43,799, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has consistently said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Source » timesofisrael.com
