Israeli Ground Offensive in Gaza Devastating Hamas While IDF Death Toll Rises

Israel’s expanding ground operations in the Gaza Strip continued to wreak havoc on Hamas on Thursday, even as the Israeli military’s death toll from the offensive rose to 18.

With fighting raging into the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Army Radio shared new details about the Jewish state’s ongoing war with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group in control of neighboring Gaza.

An IDF infantry unit reportedly fought off an ambush from Hamas terrorists during a nighttime battle. The terrorists, who have been hiding in the organization’s vast tunnel network beneath Gaza, emerged firing their guns and explosives. Army Radio said the unit was able to kill 20 terrorists, with no deaths on the Israeli side.

However, the army announced that the 18th Israeli soldier had been killed in the northern Gaza Strip since Israel launched ground operations there. One of the deaths announced by the army on Thursday was Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, 33, who was recognized as a hero by saving many people in Kibbutz Be’eri during Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel that began the war. Habaka is the most senior soldier killed in Gaza since the fighting began.

According to the IDF, 11 soldiers were killed when Hamas attacked their armored vehicle with rocket-propelled grenade fire. Hamas terrorists killed others with explosive charges and anti-tank missiles.

IDF spokesperson Adm. Daniel Hagari tweeted on Thursday on the army’s use of “technological roles alongside deciphering, cyber, and research capabilities with the aim of making the production of targets large-scale to find targets.” He said the military has destroyed more than 12,000 Hamas targets since the beginning of the war, and at least 1,200 new ones were found.

The army additionally reported that it had started the process of destroying tunnels — more than 100 so far — and are continuing to do so around the clock, shutting in terrorists behind the rubble.

With the ground invasion and encirclement of the northern portion of Gaza continuing, questions of what a “day after” the fighting and potential downfall of Hamas may look like are growing. The ideas have been wide-ranging. The Financial Times reported, for example, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing for the transfer of Gazans to the Sinai desert directly south while forgiving more than $14 billion in aid to Egypt.

On the flip side, the Biden administration has been against such a plan, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken telling the Senate Appropriations Committee that their ideal situation is a “revitalized Palestinian Authority” in charge of Gaza. This would go alongside an idea that has been reported of an international peace keeping force to ensure stability in Gaza in the interim after Israel completes its goal of destroying Hamas.

A similar plan was implemented following Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 at the request of then-US President George W. Bush, after which the Palestinian Authority took power — until it was promptly forced out by Hamas, which has been ruling Gaza ever since.

Some observers have also floated a situation similar to the security apparatus in the West Bank, where there would be pockets of IDF control and Israeli settlements alongside Palestinian cities, all the while allowing the IDF the ability to conduct military operations as needed.

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