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Tel Aviv [Israel], December 31 (ANI/TPS): Israeli ground, aerial and naval forces continued operations across the Gaza Strip as the war against the Hamas terror group entered its 83rd day on Thursday.
Israeli forces have been active in recent days in the Daraj and Tuffah districts of Gaza City, battling the Daraj Tuffah Battalion of Hamas' Gaza City Brigade. In late October, Israeli fighter jets struck three of the battalion's senior operatives: Battalion Commander Rifat Abbas; Battalion Deputy Commander Ibrahim Jadba; and Combat Support Commander Tarek Maarouf. Hamas's Gaza City Brigade is the terrorist group's most important brigade, and its operatives played a significant role in the Oct. 7 massacre, according to the Israeli military. During the previous 24 hours, naval forces continued to assist ground troops maneuvering in the Gaza Strip with fire from the sea. On Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces' Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved operational plans at the military's Northern Command, which has responsibility for the Lebanese border, and warned of the need to "be ready to attack if required." "Our first task is to return residents securely, and it will take time. We approved today a variety of plans for continuation, and we need to be ready to attack, if required. The IDF and within it, the Northern Command, are at very high readiness. So far, the campaign is [being] managed correctly and meticulously, and it should continue as such. We will not return the residents without security and a sense of security," said Halevi. IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari stated on Wednesday that in the north, the military has been responding to and thwarting Hezbollah attacks and destroying the terror group's infrastructure along the Israeli-Lebanese border. He added that more than 150 terrorists have been killed by the IDF in Lebanon since Oct. 8, when the Iranian-backed terror army began firing on Israel, and that 129 of these were Hezbollah members. The military also disclosed on Wednesday night that Israeli forces destroyed a network of tunnels underneath and around a hospital and adjacent girl's school in Gaza City. The three shafts, dozens of meters deep, were connected by an underground network passing under the Rantisi hospital and leading to the heart of Gaza City, the IDF said. The tunnels also ran under and around the Ramaz Fahrah School. A special elevator installed in the girl's school descended 20 meters down to the shaft. At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 129. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains. (ANI/TPS)
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