Seven more soldiers were announced as having fallen as the IDF’s Duvdevan unit was among forces that had smashed through Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade’s defense lines.
The military has described Khan Yunis as Hamas’s remaining governmental and military “center of gravity,” following the fall of Gaza City to IDF forces in mid-November.
While operating in the area, Duvdevan troops have struck targets with precision missiles and directed air strikes. They also destroyed terror infrastructure and eliminated Hamas terror cells in the city.
IDF Duvdevan troops operate in Khan Yunis. December 18, 2023. (Credit: IDF)
The Duvdevan soldiers, along with engineering forces and the Oketz Special Forces canine unit, swept the area and uncovered a system of Hamas tunnels and shafts.
During the operations, Hamas fighters emerged from these tunnels and fired at the Israeli forces, who responded with fire, killing the terrorists before demolishing the tunnel system.
IDF destroys Hamas tunnels
The troops also found and destroyed a facility dedicated to drone production, as well as several rocket launchers aimed at Israel. During one of these raids, troops encountered an explosive device which exploded, killing Duvdevan soldiers Sgt.-Maj. Liav Aloush (21) and St.-Sgt.-Maj. Etan Naeh (26), as well as St.-Sgt.-Maj. Tal Filiba (23) of the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom unit.
The IDF announced the names of these three soldiers, along with Sgt.-Maj. Urija Bayer (20) who was the most recent IDF soldier killed on Monday morning. Bayer was a soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s Maglan Special Forces unit and a German Evangelical Christian who chose to volunteer in the army.
Another Duvdevan soldier was seriously wounded as well. The troops directed combat helicopters and attacked the area until it was destroyed.
Besides those soldiers, Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Lidor Yosef Karavani (23), Capt. Yarin Gahali (22), and Capt. (res.) Netanel Silberg (33), were also announced as fallen.
The military’s progress has been significant enough in reducing Hamas’s operating capabilities above ground and its rocket fire that the IDF Home Front announced a reduction in emergency rules for Ashkelon.
Almost all of the rockets fired on Monday were on the North from Hezbollah; recent weeks have seen a dramatic drop in rocket fire from Gaza since the IDF progressed on Khan Yunis.
IDF sources confirmed that Rafah is one of the last places where Hamas can still more easily fire rockets – and even that restive city was attacked this past weekend by the IDF.
Hezbollah has been conducting attacks on Israel from positions next to UN and Lebanese army ones, the IDF said on Monday, a day after exchanges of fire between the Jewish state and the Lebanon-based Iranian proxy.
Earlier on Monday, the IDF identified several rocket launches directed at the border coming from within Lebanon. The military also reported that previous alarms that had sounded warning residents of a hostile aircraft intrusion were later found to have been activated due to rocket launches instead. In response, the military targeted the sources of the launches with artillery fire.
IAF fighter jets struck several Hezbollah terror targets on Monday as well, among them infrastructure, a launch post, and a military site. Troops identified and targeted terrorists operating in an area known to be used by the terrorist group for military purposes.
The IDF later announced that Israeli air defenses had intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed in from Lebanese territory.
Lebanon-based terrorists also fired an anti-tank missile towards the northern border community of Avivim. The IDF responded with artillery fire.
On Monday evening, the army announced that since October 7, Hezbollah attacks have claimed the lives of five civilians and displaced some 80,000 more from their homes in northern Israel. These attacks, the IDF added, violate UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
The military further stated that the attacks have been conducted from positions near UN and Lebanese Armed Forces installations.
Meanwhile, suitcases with funds amounting to over NIS 5 million (about $1.3 m.) were found in the home of a senior Hamas member in the Jabalya area. Many weapons were also found by soldiers from the 551st Brigade in the Hamas member’s home.
Overall, the IDF struck over 150 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Monday. In one instance, the 646th Brigade targeted terrorist infrastructure where many weapons were found, including explosives, combat equipment, and RPGs. A stockpile of mortars and ammunition was also found in the same structure.
In Khan Yunis, the IAF spotted a suspicious cell entering terrorist infrastructure and struck the cell, eliminating it.
Since the start of the war, the military has intercepted over 100 aerial threats, including drones and cruise missiles, the IDF said Monday, releasing new footage of the interceptions.
Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.
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