Tel Aviv [Israel], October 11 (ANI): Continuing its air assault on Hamas in the wake of the multi-pronged terror attacks, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it struck over 200 targets of the terrorist group in the Al Furkan neighbourhood of the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday. As part of the ongoing counter-offensive against Hamas on Wednesday morning, the security forces also bombed the house of the father of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing believed to be the key plotter of the terror attacks, The Times of Israel reported.
In what was its third aerial assault in the area, Israeli fighter jets struck 450 Hamas targets in the neighbourhood, the IDF posted on social media platform X. “The IDF continues extensive waves of attacks in the Gaza Strip; dozens of Air Force fighter jets attacked over 200 targets in the Al Furkan neighbourhood for the third time in the past day This is the third attack in the area during the last day, in which the IDF attacked over 450 targets in the area of the neighbourhood,” the IDF posted on X.
Meanwhile, as the war on Hamas entered its fifth day, the toll from the rocket and ambush attacks by the terror outfit in Israel mounted to over 1,000, with more than 2,800 injured and 50 confirmed missing or taken hostage, the IDF stated. It informed further that over 4,500 rockets have been fired, so far, from Gaza.
Over 770 Palestinians have also been killed in the air raids as part of the ongoing counter-offensive, the Health Ministry of Gaza said, adding that another 4,000 have been injured. Among the dead are 140 children and 120 women, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry on Gaza said.
A day ago, in a stern warning to Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “though Israel did not start this war”, it “will finish it”. “Israel is at war. We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it,” said Netanyahu in an address to the nation. Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, firing a barrage of rockets into the southern and central parts of the country combined with a ground assault on civilians. (ANI)
Israel Defence Forces confirms 3 soldiers killed in Lebanon border attack
Tel Aviv [Israel], October 11 (ANI/TPS): A senior Israel Defence Forces (IDF) officer and two soldiers were killed during a firefight with terrorists who infiltrated into Israeli territory from southern Lebanon on Monday afternoon, the military confirmed on Tuesday. Five additional Israeli troops were wounded in the attack, according to the IDF. The officer was identified as 300th Brigade Deputy Commander Lt Col Alim Abdullah, 40, from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat in northern Israel.
According to local media, Abdullah was set to conclude his army service on Sunday. “The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to his family and will continue to support them,” the military stated.
Israeli forces killed two of the terrorists. Local media initially reported that three were killed, but the IDF clarified on Tuesday that the third fled back into Lebanon.
Following the incident, Israeli helicopter gunships struck targets in Southern Lebanon, as residents near the border fence were instructed to remain in their homes, with their doors locked and lights out.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad‘s Al-Quds Brigades, in a statement posted on Telegram, claimed responsibility for the cross-border attack. It said seven “Zionist soldiers” had been wounded. An official in the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group cited by Reuters had denied the organization’s involvement in the incident. A Lebanese security official told the wire service that the cell belonged to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Earlier on Monday, a mortar shell from Lebanon hit an open area, also in the Upper Galilee but further east, the IDF said. Sirens sounded in Moshav Ramot Naftali and Kibbutz Yiftah, south of Kiryat Shmona and near Lebanon, the army said. On Monday night, several additional rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel, causing no damage. The IDF said that no one was injured in that attack.
On Sunday, IDF artillery hit targets in Southern Lebanon after Hezbollah terrorists there fired mortars at the Jewish state. The military confirmed that there were no Israeli casualties. The enemy shells hit in the contested Mount Dov region close to the Blue Line, which demarcates the 120-kilometre (75-mile) border and was created in 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel‘s withdrawal from Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for Sunday’s fire, saying it targeted three Israeli military sites in solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance.” (ANI/TPS)
