An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and eight were wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said, as the military continued its intensified operations in the territory’s north.
The slain soldier was named as Sgt. Uriel Peretz, 23, of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, from Beitar Illit.
The Beitar Illit municipality mourned Peretz, “who fell… while risking his life for the people of Israel and the Land of Israel.” The mayor of the ultra-Orthodox settlement, Meir Rubinstein, said “the whole city is mourning and sending condolences to the beloved family.”
According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers, who were inside a building in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, were hit by anti-tank fire. Peretz was killed and eight others were wounded, including three in serious condition. The other five were listed in good and moderate condition.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip rose to 395. Another soldier was killed in northern Gaza’s Jabalia on Sunday.
Also on Monday, the military said one rocket was launched from the central Gaza Strip at the border community of Kissufim, striking an open area.
There were no reports of injuries or major damage.
This video released by the IDF on December 30, 2024, shows Hamas operatives planting explosive devices next to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
Separately, the IDF released footage obtained from cameras belonging to Hamas operatives, showing them planting roadside bombs next to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to the army, the bombs were planted just 45 meters (nearly 148 feet) from the medical center in Jabalia.
The army said it had operated last week at the Indonesian Hospital, with troops killing several terror operatives who tried to flee from the medical center. Dozens of members of terror groups were also detained, and several explosive devices planted by them in the area were neutralized, the military said.
The video taken by the Hamas operatives, and later found by the IDF in Gaza, showed them planting explosive devices next to the hospital. The video was not dated.
An infographic released by the IDF on December 30, 2024, shows where Hamas operatives planted roadside bombs near the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
“This is another example of the Hamas terror organization’s cynical use of the population and civilian institutions in the Gaza Strip for terror activity in blatant violation of international law,” the military added.
The IDF said scores of terror operatives were killed overnight in ambushes led by the military’s 162nd Division in Jabalia.
According to the IDF, troops spotted and killed “many dozens of terrorists” with gunfire and tank shelling.
צוות הקרב של חטיבה 401, גבעתי והיחידה הרב מימדית, בפיקוד אוגדה 162 פעלו הלילה במרחב ג׳באליה >> pic.twitter.com/9Skova25VH
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 30, 2024
The IDF has been operating in the Jabalia area since early October, facing relatively fierce resistance by remaining Hamas cells in the area, military sources said. The return of civilians to northern Gaza has reportedly been among the contested points in ongoing ceasefire-hostage release talks between Hamas and Israel.
On Saturday, the army said it had wrapped up an extensive raid that began early Friday at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, just outside Jabalia, in which it arrested hundreds of terror operatives.
The IDF said Sunday that its forces had killed 19 Palestinian terror operatives and apprehended “240 terrorists” in the raid, calling it one of the largest operations it has conducted in the territory.
Palestinians evacuate from northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, in a handout photo issued by the military on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Kamal Adwan Hospital was described by the IDF as “Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia,” after hundreds of terror operatives allegedly used the medical facility as a shelter from Israeli strikes. According to the military, the operatives returned to Kamal Adwan after the IDF last operated in the medical center in late October.
Before launching the operation, the IDF said it had enabled the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel to other hospitals, in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
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