IDF wraps up central Gaza raid, says 100 terror sites destroyed, 40 operatives killed

The Israeli military says it has wrapped up a pinpoint raid against Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, during which troops destroyed more than 100 sites belonging to terror groups, killed some 40 operatives, and expanded the east-west corridor held by the army.

The operation, carried out by the 401st Armored Brigade and other troops under the 162nd Division on the outskirts of the Nuseirat camp, was aimed at clearing the area of Hamas operatives, destroying its infrastructure, including a tunnel network that allowed passage from Nuseirat to Gaza City, and expanding the Netzarim corridor.

The corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City and north of Nuseirat, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south.

Amid the operation near Nuseirat, the IDF said it destroyed two rocket manufacturing plants, one belonging to Hamas and the other to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, among a total of around 100 sites.

The military says it also demolished 17 tunnel shafts, part of at least five separate underground networks. Rockets and launchers were also discovered and destroyed during the operation.

Some 40 gunmen were killed amid the fighting, including in airstrikes, the IDF said. Ahead of the offensive, a series of airstrikes were carried out in the area.

The 162nd Division has now mostly been withdrawn from Gaza. The division’s Nahal Brigade continues to be the sole unit in the Strip, operating in the Netzarim corridor, where the IDF says troops have killed more than 1,000 gunmen in the past three months.

Nahal is due to be replaced in the Netzarim corridor by a reserve brigade, to allow all of the division’s forces to prepare for future operations, including planned offensives in Rafah and central Gaza.