IDF’s 98th Division exits Gaza after taking part in anti-terror raids, hostage rescue op
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
After participating in Saturday’s hostage rescue operation in Nuseirat, the IDF’s 98th Division has been withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, the military says.
In the days ahead of the mission to rescue four Israeli hostages, the division began a new offensive in east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah — east and southeast of Nuseirat, where the hostages were extricated from.
Amid the offensive, the IDF says the division’s forces killed around 100 terror operatives and struck more than 100 sites, including tunnels and rocket launchers, as well as locating weapons.
Two attack tunnels belonging to Hamas, each around a kilometer long, were demolished by combat engineers amid the operation, the military says.
During the hostage rescue, troops of the division aided in extracting special forces, along with the rescued hostages, from Nuseirat.
Speaking to troops after being pulled out of Gaza, the commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, says “there are still 120 more hostages in Gaza, and we will not stop until we bring them home.”
“We are also obligated to destroy the enemy above and below ground. This is what we have done for eight months, and that’s how we will continue,” he adds.
