On the fourth day of battle following an unexpected surprise strike, Israel’s military said roughly 1,500 dead of Hamas terrorists were discovered in Israeli territory. It also said it had mostly won control in the country’s south and “restored full control” over the border.
According to Hecht, no Hamas fighters have entered into Israel since last night, while infiltrations are still conceivable. Previously, Israel reported 900 soldiers and civilians dead, while Palestinian officials recorded 700 deaths in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israeli airplanes continued to target central Gaza City, home to Hamas’ leadership offices, into early Tuesday, after Israel’s prime minister promised punishment against the Islamic militant group that would “reverberate for generations.”
The four-day conflict has already claimed 1,600 lives, with Israel witnessing gunfights in its own communities for the first time in decades and Gaza neighborhoods left to ruins. The battle was further exacerbated by Hamas, who threatened to execute captured Israelis if strikes harmed civilians without warning.
According to Israel, Hamas and other militant factions in Gaza are holding more than 150 soldiers and civilians kidnapped from within Israel after the onslaught took its renowned military and intelligence establishment completely off guard.
The Israeli military declared that it had “restored full control” of the border in the south. According to Hecht, no Hamas fighters have entered into Israel since last night, while infiltrations are still conceivable.
A significant issue as the Israeli military engaged 300,000 reservists in a massive mobilization was whether it would launch a ground attack into the little Mediterranean coastal region. The most recent ground assault occurred in 2014.
Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from areas near Gaza, while tanks and drones were deployed to defend gaps in the Gaza border line against additional invasions. Tens of thousands fled their homes in Gaza as airstrikes devastated buildings.
The efforts, combined with Israel’s formal declaration of war on Hamas on Sunday, indicated that Israel was gradually going to the offensive against Hamas, predicting further devastation in the densely populated, impoverished Gaza Strip.