From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 9, 2023
IDF spokesman says fighting ongoing in six Gaza-border towns; more terrorists have crossed border in past two days
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces’ top spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, tells reporters that there are still six sites of active fighting in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Fighting is ongoing in Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nirim and Alumim, he says. Some of the terrorists have been in Israel since the preliminary attack on Saturday, while others crossed the border over the past two days.
Hagari says that overnight, some 70 terrorists infiltrated Be’eri. Most of them were killed in battle with IDF troops, but others are still hiding in homes in the kibbutz.
In Kfar Aza, seven terrorists were identified in the town’s vicinity, and the mouth of a tunnel near the kibbutz was found as well, Hagari says.
Six terrorists were identified near Kibbutz Nirim, and four in Alumim, he says.
Hagari estimates that 425 Palestinian terrorists have been killed by the IDF so far in the Gaza Strip, and hundreds more in Israeli territory.
Hagari says the IDF is drafting hundreds of thousands of reservists.
The IDF says it has hit 1,148 targets in strikes across the Gaza Strip.
