From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 21, 2023
IDF says it has expanded ground operations in central Gaza
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces says it has expanded its ground operations in the central Gaza Strip, with the 99th Division carrying out an operation in areas south of Gaza City.
According to the IDF, the 99th Division maneuvered into new areas of central Gaza, to establish “operational control” between Gaza City and the so-called central camps — the refugee camps of central Gaza.
It says that during the operation, the division’s 179th Reserve Armored Brigade and 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade killed members of Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion and destroyed the terror group’s infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon depots.
Amid the operation, it says an airstrike was carried out against a Hamas cell firing RPGs from a municipal building.
Meanwhile, the IDF says the division’s Yiftah Brigade continued working to clear the western neighborhoods of Gaza City of Hamas infrastructure.
During their operations, the IDF says troops found several weapons, some hidden inside dolls and under children’s beds. The weapons caches were later destroyed by combat engineers, it adds.
