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IDF captures 80 terrorists hidden among evacuating civilians

The IDF announced on Sunday night that it had completed a two-week-long clearance operation in the southern Gaza City district of Zeitoun.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

Israeli forces captured 80 terror suspects attempting to hide among the civilian population evacuated from western Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces reported on Monday morning, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 150th day.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad members were among those arrested as the military cleared the Qatari-funded Hamad City residential compound of residents in preparation for an operation against terror forces entrenched there. After encircling the complex on Sunday morning, Israeli forces conducted targeted raids, striking terror targets and killing terrorists operating from within civilian areas.

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Israeli forces also continued to strike in the area of Al-Qarara, located north of Khan Yunis. The town had been hit from the air multiple times since the start of the war on Oct. 7, with ground forces entering the area over the weekend.

In central Gaza, Israel Defense Forces troops killed 15 terrorists over the past 24 hours and on Saturday eliminated an Islamic Jihad rocket-launching squad less than 30 minutes after they fired a barrage at Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Hatzerim.

On Sunday night the IDF and Israel Security Agency announced that earlier in the morning an aerial strike eliminated Hamas terrorist Mahmoud Muhammad Abd Khad, who was responsible for recruiting new terrorist operatives for the Zeitoun battalions. He also raised funds for terrorist and military activities.

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The IDF announced on Sunday night that it had completed a two-week-long clearance operation in the southern Gaza City district of Zeitoun, killing more than 100 terrorist operatives and destroying infrastructure used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

IDF ground troops first entered Zeitoun, once considered a major Hamas stronghold, in mid-November. On Nov. 20, the IDF announced that 188th Brigade soldiers had taken control of key structures belonging to the terror group’s Zeitoun Battalion.

According to Palestinian reports on Sunday, the IDF also conducted airstrikes in Rafah along the Egyptian border, hitting a three-story building in the city’s Al-Janina neighborhood, with reports of casualties. There were also reports of casualties from an Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.