As negotiations for new hostage deal stall, IDF continues operations in Gaza

While hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas are apparently at an impasse, due to Hamas’ demand for a permanent ceasefire, the IDF continues operations in the Gaza Strip. 

IDF troops continued to intensify operations against Hamas in Khan Younis on Wednesday morning.

Israel Defense Forces announced that soldiers eliminated several terror cells over the last 24 hours. The IAF has been assisting ground troops to thwart imminent threats, as well as striking terror infrastructure. 

Over the past day, soldiers conducted raids against Hamas targets in the area, engaging with terrorists in each location. In one raid, a terror cell planning to fire on IDF soldiers with anti-tank weapons were eliminated. 

The Israeli Air Force (IAF), with instructions from the IDF, struck the armed terror cell and an additional group which concealed itself while observing the forces. 

During targeted raids in Khan Younis, forces discovered a stash of weapons and eliminated terrorists in the area.

Soldiers from the 7th Brigade combat team and the Yahalom Engineering unit operated in a strategic and central terrorist zone in Khan Younis. The Hamas facilities had been constructed in the heart of a residential neighborhood, adjacent to two schools. 

🔴WATCH: Hamas established a central terrorist stronghold in the heart of a residential neighborhood in Khan Yunis, Gaza, adjacent to 2 schools.

Troops operating in the area combated Hamas operatives and located numerous tunnel shafts leading to a tunnel route, a lab and the… pic.twitter.com/K6GGSLCqNA

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 23, 2024

Israeli forces encountered terror squads that opened small arms fire and a large number of RPGs. The terrorists also blew up the tunnel shafts in an attempt to prevent IDF troops from penetrating to the underground facilities. 

A large number of terrorists in the area engaged forces, who returned fire and eliminated the terrorists with machine gun fire, tank shells and air support, often at close range. 

After clearing the area of hostile forces, soldiers from the combat team, together with fighters from the Yahalom unit, located many shafts that led to a long tunneling route. The tunnel system contained a laboratory and a lathe for manufacturing rockets, the largest lathe found so far in the southern Gaza Strip. 

In central Gaza, IDF soldiers identified an armed enemy spotter planning to fire at the forces from within a compound. The forces responded with fire, killing the terrorist. 

In the northern Gaza Strip over the past day, IAF aircraft eliminated several terrorists, at the direction of IDF ground troops, as Israel has continued its attempt at maintaining operational control of the northern Strip. 

As of press time, reports of significant airstrikes in Khan Younis and Rafah were being shared on social media from Gazan sources. Videos showed large explosions, with several Arab accounts claiming that a high-level Hamas leader had been targeted. Israeli media has not yet released any details regarding the strikes.