Israeli forces took management of Gaza Metropolis’s port on Thursday, November 16, the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) stated. The port has civilian fishing boats and Hamas terrorists additionally used the port. “The terrorist group Hamas used the port as a coaching facility for his or her naval commando forces to plan and perform naval terrorist assaults. Below the guise of a civilian port, Hamas used the world to coach and perform terrorist assaults, all whereas utilizing civilians and Gaza Harbor Police vessels,” the IDF stated.
Management of the port is vital as a result of it follows different assaults and raids on Hamas naval instructions. Hamas constructed up its naval instructions over the previous decade. It used them in a raid on Zikim Seashore, which is simply north of the Gaza border in Israel, in 2014 throughout that 12 months’s conflict. Hamas attacked the identical seashore within the early hours of October 7 as a part of their large assault on Israel, killing 1,200 individuals in Israel. The offensive in opposition to Zikim concerned a number of terrorists and it took Israel greater than sooner or later to get rid of all of them. For instance, after I was driving all the way down to Zikim to cowl the conflict on October 8, 2023, I noticed the our bodies of two terrorists who had lately been eradicated that afternoon.
Hamas continued to attempt to goal this space as a result of it’s near the border with Gaza and consists of sand dunes the place terrorists can then infiltrate and threaten close by communities. For instance, one other raid in late October was foiled, the IDF stated, and the commander of the naval unit was later killed.
On October 27, the IDF additionally used its elite Shayetet naval commandos to assault the southern Gaza Strip. On the time, the IDF stated that “the troopers struck Hamas army infrastructure and operated in an space utilized by Hamas commando naval forces.” On October 12, the IDF additionally beat a naval commander. These operations have now culminated within the IDF taking management of the port. The IDF now controls a shoreline that runs from the border with Israel to an space southwest of Gaza Metropolis. The IDF took management of this space by transferring armored models south from Israel and encircling Gaza from the south as effectively in order that the models now close to the port would hyperlink up with these heading south. This cuts off Gaza Metropolis from the ocean.
“Within the operation, during which troopers from the Fight Engineering Corps and the Air Pressure additionally participated, ten terrorist tunnel shafts and 4 constructions used for terror had been destroyed and ten terrorists had been killed. All buildings within the port space had been cleared,” the IDF stated on Thursday, November 16.
The IDF continues to slowly chip away at numerous Hamas strongholds on the outskirts of Gaza Metropolis itself. For instance, on October 16, the commando brigade, fight engineers and tanks continued operations in Shati, a dense neighborhood of buildings and as soon as a refugee camp established in 1948. It grew to become generally known as the “seashore camp” as a result of it’s positioned on the seashore, a couple of kilometer from Gaza’s port. Two miles east, IDF troops working in Beit Hanoun stated they uncovered rockets in a civilian dwelling. The rockets had been saved underneath a mattress in a room. The rockets seem like 107 mm, just like these utilized by many Iranian-backed teams within the area, reminiscent of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian-backed teams in Iraq.
Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant met with IDF thirty sixth Division commanders on Thursday. The division operates south of Gaza and can also be accountable for operations round Shifa Hospital. The hospital has been within the highlight for weeks. Israel confirmed a cache of weapons discovered on the hospital on November 15. “There are vital findings [at the Shifa hospital] – [we are] work in a exact and focused method. We now have gained operational management over the western area of Gaza Metropolis; we’re getting into the subsequent part of [ground] operations,” Gallant stated. He stated that the operation in Shifa Hospital, a big advanced of buildings, is being carried out exactly. The IDF stated a Hamas tunnel was exposed at Shifa Hospital, and in addition an engineering unit found a tunnel at Rantisi Hospital, north of Shifa.
Gallant stated Israel had gained extra management over the “western space of Gaza Metropolis.” He didn’t specify the neighborhoods, however that is the place the humanitarian hall on Salah al-Din Highway additionally results in the south. Israel has been urging civilians to go away Gaza Metropolis for a month, and plenty of have been ready to make use of this highway to go south.
Israeli troopers had been wounded in combating within the Sheikh Ijlin space southwest of Gaza Metropolis. The physique of a hostage held by Hamas was discovered on Thursday. Hamas kidnapped Yehudit Weiss from Kibbutz Beeri on 7 October. Her physique was present in a constructing subsequent to Shifa Hospital. “Within the construction the place Yehudit was positioned, army gear was additionally discovered, together with Kalashnikov rifles and RPGs,” the IDF stated. She is the second hostage confirmed killed this week. Noa Marciano, an IDF soldier kidnapped from his remark unit on October 7, was featured in a video launched by Hamas this week. The IDF stated on November 14 that she had been killed. Her physique had not been recovered. 372 IDF troopers have been killed since October 7. Eighteen troopers have been killed in floor operations in Gaza previously week.
Rocket fireplace from Gaza has decreased over the previous few days, persevering with a pattern that seems to coincide with the IDF’s deepening operations in Gaza. There have been e.g. no rocket assaults on central Israel on November 16. In Lebanon, the IDF additionally carried out assaults on Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon. The targets included a variety of army posts from which Hezbollah terrorists operated,” the IDF stated. This additionally represented a change of tempo as a result of it was not in speedy response to an assault, however seemed to be a pre-emptive strike. The IDF didn’t elaborate.
Are you a devoted reader of FDD’s Lengthy Warfare Journal? Has our analysis benefited you or your group through the years? Help our unbiased reporting and evaluation at the moment by contemplating a one-time or month-to-month donation. Thanks for studying alongside! You may make a tax-deductible donation right here.
