From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 18, 2024
IDF: 98th Division returned to Khan Younis’ Hamad Town complex, also operating in Deir al-Balah
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF’s 98th Division has returned to operate in the Hamad Town residential complex in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, while also operating for the first time in the Deir al-Balah area, the military says.
The latest operation in Khan Younis and the outskirts of Deir al-Balah came following rocket fire and other intelligence that the IDF says indicates Hamas’s presence in the area.
So far, dozens of sites belonging to terror groups have been destroyed, and several cells of gunmen were killed amid the operation.
The division’s Paratroopers Brigade is operating in the Hamad Town neighborhood and other areas of western Khan Younis, where soldiers are searching for tunnels, the IDF says. The military operated in Hamad earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the division’s 7th Armored Brigade is conducting operations on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, the IDF says, an area that ground forces have mostly not yet operated in.
The IDF carried out a very limited operation in eastern Deir al-Balah in June, as part of preparations for a hostage rescue mission in Nuseirat.
