Jerusalem, Oct 11: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday claimed that a Hamas “advanced detection system” in Gaza used to identify aircraft, has been destroyed in airstrikes that hit more than 80 targets in the besieged coastal enclave.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), in a few minutes during a focused sortie, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck all of the sites of the network and demolished Hamas’ ability to form an accurate picture of the skies and their efforts to target IDF aircraft,” CNN quoted the IDF as saying in a statement.
According to the Forces, the latest targets also included two bank branches used by Hamas to fund terrorism; an underground tunnel; two Hamas operational command centres; weapons storage facilities; and two Hamas compounds used for training, manufacturing and storing weapons.
Since Israel declared a war on Hamas in retaliation to the militant group’s surprise attack on the country on October 7, the Jewish nation has been battering Gaza with continued airstrikes.
Earlier in the day, the IDF also said that it struck naval targets in Gaza which were reportedly used by Hamas militants to carry out attacks on the Israeli coastline, reports CNN.
The operation was carried out by IDF naval soldiers, IAF and the Israeli Artillery Corps, it said in a separate statement, adding that the targets included docks, which were hit using artillery fire from missile boats, militart helicopters and ground artillery batteries.
In addition, Israeli naval forces killed a Hamas diver who attempted to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza shores earlier Wednesday, the IDF added.
In his latest update on the ground situation, IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Wednesday that they have rebuilt the barrier around Gaza and also sent “infantry, armoured soldiers, artillery corps”, plus 300,000 reservists, close to the border with the enclave, the BBC reported.
They are “close to the Gaza Strip getting ready to execute the mission that we have been given by the Israeli government – and that is to make sure that Hamas at the end of this war won’t have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians”, he added.
As a result of the violence, at least 950 people have died in the Gaza Strip, while 1,200 Israelis were also killed.