IDF: Troops kill several gunmen in close-quarters combat in eastern Rafah, locate more tunnel shafts

The Israeli military says it killed numerous gunmen as it continues to operate in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.

In east Rafah, troops of the Givati Brigade located several tunnel shafts, while the 401st Armored Brigade killed several gunmen in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes in the area of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, the IDF says.

The IDF also says the Air Force and 215th Artillery Regiment carried out several strikes in Rafah over the past day, targeting sites used by Hamas to launch rockets and mortars at troops and at Israel.

Meanwhile, in Zeitoun, where the IDF launched a pinpoint operation last night, the military says fighter jets struck several gunmen and Hamas sites, including a booby-trapped building.

In central Gaza, the IDF says reservists of the Yiftah Brigade spotted a cell of gunmen leaving a known weapons depot and moving toward the forces, before calling in an airstrike against them. The weapons depot and another operative in the area were targeted in separate strikes, the military says.

More than 40 more targets, including tunnels, anti-tank missile launch positions, buildings, observation posts, and other infrastructure were struck by the Air Force in other areas of Gaza, the IDF adds.