Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 8, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 8, 2024
IDF: In first Gaza operation, ultra-Orthodox troops destroy launch sites, kill Hamas gunmen
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Troops of the Kfir Brigade's Netzah Yehuda Battalion operate in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, in a handout image published March 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Over the past week, the IDF says the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion carried out an operation in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.
The battalion, made up of ultra-Orthodox and religious troops, was placed under the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade for the operation.
It is the first time the unit, normally deployed to the West Bank, is operating in Gaza.
According to the IDF, the soldiers located and destroyed Hamas anti-tank missile launching positions, observation posts, and tunnel shafts, and killed several gunmen in Beit Hanoun.
In December, the IDF said it had completed dismantling Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion, but was continuing to battle smaller cells in the area.
