First footage of Israel's elite commandos involved in house-to-house fighting in Gaza released by the IDF
The IDF said its strikes in northern Gaza had killed Hamas fighters and destroyed "terrorist infrastructure".
Israel Defense Forces
- The IDF released the first footage of its elite commando brigade in Gaza Thursday.
- The soldiers are fighting in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.
- The IDF said it had killed Hamas militants and destroyed "terrorist infrastructure" as part of the operation.
The Israel Defense Forces released the first footage of soldiers from its Commando Brigade on an operation in Gaza Thursday.
The IDF said the three videos and four photos it shared showed operatives fighting in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, which it called "the densest area the IDF has operated in since the beginning of fighting."
The elite commandos killed Hamas militants and destroyed "terrorist infrastructure," per the IDF. Hamas is classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department.
Israel Defense Forces
"During the operational activity, the Commando Brigade coordinated 54 precise strikes from the air, sea and land, during which Hamas terrorists were eliminated and terrorist infrastructure, booby-trapped buildings and tunnel shafts were destroyed," the IDF said in its press release.
"In parallel, the soldiers conducted operational activity at a booby-trapped hotel in the northern Gaza Strip, and found large stockpiles of weapons.
"The weapons were subsequently destroyed by the IDF."
Israel Defense Forces
Two of the videos show soldiers engaged in urban warfare in the Gaza Strip, while the third is an interview with a first lieutenant from the elite Egoz Unit.
"We are inside Al-Shati. In recent days we have been waging a stubborn fight against Hamas here," the commando says in the footage. "In fact, in the last few days we have found terrorist infrastructure – weaponry, terror tunnel shafts which were close and adjacent to educational institutions."
"Our goal in the end is to reach every Hamas operative wherever they may be," he adds.
Most of the civilians have been forced out of northern Gaza, where the Israeli commandos are doing battle.
The majority of the besieged territory's 2.3 million residents are now crammed into the southern portion of the enclave, the Associated Press reported. Israel has warned that attacks could also begin in the southern city of Khan Younis, per the BBC.
More than 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel when Hamas terrorists attacked the country on October 7, taking an additional 240 civilians hostage. Over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's war against Hamas began, and an additional 2,700 are reported missing, according to Palestinian health authorities.