Israeli troops ramped up ground operations in Gaza Friday – killing “a number of” Hamas terrorists – in an effort to pressure the group to release the remaining hostages.
In the first few hours of what Israeli officials are calling a “new stage in the operation” — as they look to gain wider control over the region — the military killed Hamas members and destroyed infrastructure that the terror group was using to plan and direct operations, the Israel Defense Forces said.
It did not specify how many Hamas operatives were killed.
“Forces began operating in recent hours in the Shajaiyah area in the northern Gaza Strip, with the aim of deepening control and expanding the security area,” an IDF spokesperson said in a statement on Telegram.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters, a day earlier, that the new stage “serves the goals of the war: returning the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” the Times of Israel reported.
Israel first ordered civilians to evacuate the region on Thursday after vowing in recent weeks to apply “maximum pressure” on Hamas and seize large parts of Gaza to build a new security corridor.
Among the 59 hostages still in captivity – 24 are believed to still be alive – are New Jersey native Edan Alexander, 21, and two other men seen in a Hamas propaganda video released Saturday.
Israeli hostages Bar Kupershtein, 23, and Maxim Herkin, 36, were identified as the two figures blurred out in a cruel “teaser” clip released by the terrorists, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The video marked the hostages’ first signs of life since both were taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas commander, Hasan Farhat, was killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike Friday in the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon, the IDF announced.
Since the war broke out, Farhat had been linked to numerous terrorist plots, including launching rockets into the city of Safed, in northern Israel, the military said.
The IDF has also come under fire for some of its recent military actions, including an attack on Palestinian ambulances that killed 15 alleged medics late last month.
A video released Saturday by the New York Times contradicted previous military claims that the vehicles were not clearly marked and didn’t have emergency lights on. The ambulances’ flashing sirens are seen in the video, reportedly taken by a Palestinian medic, before the screen goes black and steady sounds of gunfire ring out.
Following its release, the IDF vowed to “thoroughly” investigate the incident and said the findings would be presented to its chief of staff on Sunday.
The IDF initially said the vehicles had been transporting terrorists.
With Post wires
