IDF captures Hamas parliament

In a powerful symbol of the loss of Hamas’ power in the Gaza Strip, Golani soldiers take picture of themselves at the dais of the legislature.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

In a powerful symbol of the loss of Hamas’ power in the Gaza Strip, Golani soldiers posted pictures of themselves at the dais of the terror organization’s parliament Monday in the heart of Gaza City.

Some 30 soldiers in full battle gear can be seen holding Israel flags at the front of the room where Hamas’ small legislature used to meet.

Other symbolic pictures of Israeli dominance that have been uploaded to social media have included clips of IDF soldiers putting up Israeli flags on buildings, and affixing mezuzot on doorways of abandoned Gazan homes. These are small boxes containing passages from Scriptures that are mandated for every Jewish home according to Jewish law.

As the war enters its sixth week, the IDF has begun intense fighting in the Al-Shati neighborhood of Gaza City which Hamas calls a “refugee camp.” The army announced Tuesday morning that in the last 24 hours it has struck some 200 Hamas targets from the air, including weapons manufacturing sites, anti-tank rocket launchers, military command centers and groups of Hamas terrorists. Meanwhile, the navy hit a military base that was used by Hamas naval forces for training and weapons storage.

In the latest evidence of Hamas war crimes in embedding among civilians, a reserve Givati unit uncovered an opening to a terror tunnel in a mosque on Tuesday. Monday night, in a raid of the terror tunnels underneath the Rantisi Children’s Hospital, the elite Shayetet 13 and combat units of Brigade 401, found large amounts of weapons, suicide belts and explosives.

The troops also found proof that some of the 240 hostages Hamas had kidnapped from Gaza envelope communities during its October 7 invasion had been held there. These included a motorcycle that had been used in the invasion that had on it a ribbon from the hair of one of the abductees, a makeshift kitchen, pacifiers, diapers and a baby bottle.

The names of two more soldiers killed in battle with the terrorists in northern Gaza were released for publication Tuesday morning: St. Sgt. Roee Marom (21), from Ra’anana, and Master Sgt. (res.) Raz Abulafia, 27 years old, from Rishpon. This brings the number of IDF war dead in Gaza to 49.

Two more soldiers were evacuated in serious condition from fighting the Strip.  To date, the IDF in cooperation with the Medical Corps have executed over 200 armored and aerial evacuations of those wounded in battle since the beginning of the ground incursion.

The IDF also reported Tuesday morning that a suspicious airborne vehicle was shot down near the Acre beach in the north. The previous evening, two soldiers were seriously wounded by anti-tank fire from Lebanon. The IAF had earlier attacked Hizbollah command centers in Lebanon after the Iranian proxy launched rockets over the border, as it has done on a regular basis for weeks. The usual response so far to such Hizbollah attacks has been artillery and tank fire at the launch sites.