From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 17, 2023
IDF says it raided vacation homes of Hamas leaders, including Sinwar, found tunnels and weapons
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade have raided the offices of the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis battalion and the vacation homes of several senior Hamas commanders, including the terror group’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, the IDF says.
The commander of the 7th Armored Brigade, Col. Elad Tzuri, says his forces are battling Hamas in the Khan Younis area. He says the brigade also reached the main square in Bani Suheila, on the outskirts of Khan Younis.
During the operations, the brigade’s troops killed “many terrorists,” including some by tank shelling, the IDF says in a statement, adding that troops also uncovered some 30 tunnel shafts, struck dozens of anti-tank missile launch sites and observation posts, and seized weapons used by Hamas operatives, along with intelligence materials.
“We found weapons, tunnels inside vacation homes of senior Hamas officials,” Tzuri says. “We see a lot of tunnel shafts here, still encountering the enemy but gaining operational control of the area,” he adds.
Along with the offices of the Khan Younis battalion commander and holiday homes of senior Hamas commanders, the IDF says the troops also raided an outpost belonging to the terror group’s Deir al-Balah battalion, seizing intelligence materials.
In another raid, troops seized weapons and equipment at the home of a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces, the IDF adds.
