The army said it “had intelligence that terrorists were using the crossing for terrorist purposes”. The military operation was commanded by the army’s 162nd Division and 401st Armored Brigade in cooperation with special forces operating in eastern Rafah.
The army command said in a statement that more than 150 Hamas targets were destroyed and the forces gained full control of the Palestinian side of the crossing, about 3.5 km from Egypt.
An explosives-laden car driving towards Israeli tanks was hit and destroyed during the offensive, the army said.
During the operation, at least 20 members of Hamas lost their lives and the shafts of the tunnels that the terrorists built were destroyed, writes Ha’arec daily.
Hamas militants have stolen humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, according to the US
Foreign
Army sources estimate that the tunnel shafts located in the area were part of an underground Hamas defense line that does not lead into Egyptian territory.
In the area of the city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people from other parts of the Gaza Strip have found refuge, Israeli air and artillery strikes continued on Tuesday night, according to AFP. Palestinian authorities are talking about a number of dead, one of the local hospitals said that it registered 11 victims.
Israeli government officials say that without a ground invasion in Rafah, the destruction of the remaining military infrastructure of the Palestinian Hamas movement cannot be achieved. The United States and other allies are warning Israel of the offensive and its consequences for the civilian population of the area.
Photo: Ramez Habboub, CTK/AP
Monday’s attacks on Rafah
The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip began last October in response to a terrorist attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas and its allies, in which 1,200 people died in Israeli territory.
The Israeli army enters Rafah. Regardless of the armistice agreement
Near and Middle East
