Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday told IDF troops during a visit to southern Gaza, “There is no war that is more justified than the one we are fighting.”
“We distinguish between the civilian population and the terrorists, every last one of whom we will track down,” he said in the shadow of the genocide hearing at the International Court of Justice.
Despite some people who think the IDF has lost its drive to finish off Hamas, there is still intense activity against the terrorist group in southern Gaza, Gallant said.
The IDF has had operational control of northern Gaza for a few weeks, so the fighting there has significantly slowed.
The IDF on Thursday presented new video footage of a vast subterranean tunnel complex built by Hamas under Khan Yunis. Located by the Commando Unit, the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, and Special Forces units, the tunnel complex was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network across the entire city.
After investigating the tunnel, the IDF confirmed that Israeli hostages had been inside it.
Millions of shekels are estimated to have been invested in excavating the tunnel and equipping it with air ventilation systems, electricity, and plumbing.
The IDF’s 98th Division is simultaneously fighting underground and above ground in urban areas to locate and destroy tunnels, using advanced technology, explosives, and other means.
Hundreds of tunnel shafts uncovered
Recently in Khan Yunis, IDF forces located more than 300 tunnel shafts, some leading to significant tunnels, tactical shafts, and underground areas, which are used as weapons storage facilities and combat areas.
Artillery and IAF units had undertaken 1,300 attacks in Khan Yunis and eliminated 50% of the 150 tunnel shafts they found there, Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, told a closed media briefing on December 21.
This means that in the approximately 20 days since then, the IDF found an additional 150 shafts.
While this is certainly progress, as of December 10, including mostly numbers from northern Gaza, the IDF has destroyed more than 1,500 tunnel shafts. This suggests that the IDF still has a long way to go in Khan Yunis, which Goldfus and other senior officers and defense officials have said.
The IDF also described some other specific operations in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
In one operation, Golani soldiers identified an armed terrorist cell that was exiting a tunnel. The IDF located the terrorists using aerial surveillance, and they were eliminated with an airstrike.
The three terrorists exiting the tunnel were carrying AK-47s, the IDF said. In the operation, soldiers located weapons in the family home of one of the terrorists.
In another operation in the area of Al-Maghazi, troops identified eight terrorists who were heading in the direction of a school known to be used for terrorist activities. The terrorists were killed by sniper fire.
In the area of Khan Yunis, soldiers identified three other terrorists exiting a compound filled with weapons. They also were eliminated in an airstrike.
Also in Khan Yunis, soldiers identified two terrorists planting an explosive device in the ground and killed them on the spot.
Later, two more terrorists were identified entering a compound. One went up on a rooftop to carry out surveillance of soldiers. Both terrorists were killed in airstrikes.
In another operation in Khan Yunis, following anti-tank missiles fired at soldiers, the troops struck the terrorist infrastructure from which the missiles were fired.
Late Thursday, Palestinian media reports said the IDF had carried out a targeted killing against a vehicle of Palestinians, leading to eight dead.
Despite some rumors that the attack might have eliminated a senior Hamas official, as of press time, no top official had been killed, IDF sources said.
Meanwhile, in the North, the IDF said about 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot. An Iron Dome battery shot down three, and the others landing harmlessly.
Hezbollah fired several other rockets at other areas in the North.
The IDF responded with airstrikes and artillery against both the Hezbollah sources of fire and against additional positions and infrastructure of the Lebanese terrorist group.
According to Lebanese media, Hezbollah said it had initiated certain attacks to respond to IDF strikes on two Hezbollah rescue personnel and their ambulance.
As of press time, the IDF had not issued any specific statement about anyone other than Hezbollah terrorists.
While all of this military activity was more than on Wednesday, it was still less when compared with the past two weeks.
The only rocket sirens in the South were from rockets fired by Hamas at Kissufim in the morning. No damage was reported.