By Ehud Amiton, TPS
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces launched ground operations in Gaza, the first since a two-month ceasefire ended on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Wednesday.
“Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces have begun a focused ground operation in the center of the Gaza Strip and in the south with the aim of expanding the security zone and creating a partial buffer between the north and south of the Strip. As part of the operation, the forces took control and re-expanded their control to the center of the Netzarim corridor,” the IDF said.
Israeli forces have blocked Gaza’s Salah ad-Din highway, the Strip’s main north-south highway. The move would prevent Hamas movements between northern and southern Gaza.
The Netzarim corridor is a roughly seven-km-road running from east to west, that bisects the Strip. It crosses from Israel, at a point between Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and stretches to the Mediterranean. Israel’s withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor was a key Hamas ceasefire demand.
On Wednesday afternoon, Israel confirmed the deaths of two senior Hamas figures in the airstrikes.
The IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) identified one terrorist killed as Yasser Muhammad Harb Musa, a close associate of Hamas leader and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar. According to the army and Shin Bet, Musa held the security portfolio in Hamas’ politburo and also headed the Development Ministry in the terror group’s Executive Committee.
Also eliminated was Muhammad Jamatzi, chairman of Hamas’ Emergency Movement Committee.
Other senior Hamas leaders killed since Israel resumed widespread airstrikes on Hamas positions on Tuesday include Essam al-Dalis, head of Hamas’ Gaza government; Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed abu Watfa, who was responsible for the terror group’s internal security apparatus; and Ahmed Amar Abdullah Alhata who was Hamas’ Minister of Justice.
On Tuesday, the IDF had instructed Palestinians living at the edges of the Gaza Strip to relocate, warning of a “massive offensive” against Hamas.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson tweeted a map and specifically cited the areas of Beit Hanoun and Khirbet Khuza’a in northern Gaza, and the Khan Yunis suburb of Abasan.
“The IDF has launched a massive offensive against terrorist organizations. These designated areas are considered dangerous combat zones,” he posted. “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the known shelters in western Gaza City and those in Khan Yunis. Continuing to remain in the designated areas puts your life and the lives of your family members at risk.”
