From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Battles persisting in central Gaza corridor held by troops, IDF says
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF says Nahal Brigade soldiers are still battling Hamas gunmen in the central Gaza corridor that is the only location where troops remain in the enclave.
The IDF says Nahal troops killed several gunmen over the past day, including a cell in close-quarters combat.
Troops have withdrawn from the north and south of the Strip, but remain in the so-called Netzarim corridor, a strip of land running from the border with Israel near Be’eri to the coast.
The corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City and north of Nuseirat, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south.
The corridor also allows Israel to operate a crossing with nearly direct access to northern Gaza for trucks of humanitarian goods, which are secured by the army while using the artery.
The army says it is continuing to carry out airstrikes across the Strip, hitting dozens of targets with fighter jets and drones over the past day.
According to the IDF, the targets included military sites, rocket launchers, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure
One airstrike also targeted a Hamas cell that posed a threat to ground troops, the IDF says.
Among the sites hit are a building and rocket launcher in Jabaliya in northern Gaza used to fire a rocket at Kfar Aza a day earlier. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome.
A fighter jet also struck a launcher, after troops on a pinpoint raid in the area of Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood came under rocket fire from within the Strip, the military says.
