Dozens of people from Kfar Aza, one of the areas most severely damaged by Hamas' October 7 attacks on southern Israel, have been carrying out protests in Tel Aviv on Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.
The Israeli fighter jets carried out overnight airstrikes over 250 Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip including a rocket launch site that was hidden between a mosque and kindergarten, Times of Israel reported on Thursday.
IDF shared a video on X, saying, "Watch this never-before-seen footage of combat soldiers from the IDF's Shaldag Unit operating to neutralize terrorists and rescue the civilians of Kibbutz Be'eri."
In the aftermath of Hamas's October 7 attack on Gaza-area communities, the MDA crew was sent to search for survivors and locate bodies in the rubble of Kibbutz Kfar Aza. The kibbutz is three km from the Gaza Strip. At least 70 of the kibbutz's 400 residents were massacred.
IDF forces under the command of the Givati (infantry) Brigade overnight carried out a targeted raid using tanks in the territory of the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF said this was part of the preparation of the area for the next stage of combat.
Meanwhile, as a "ground offensive" of the besieged Gaza Strip loomed, hundreds of Israeli tanks were deployed near the border in South Israel, waiting for the all-clear from the country's political establishment and the military top brass.
"We are preparing for a ground incursion. I won't specify when, how, how many. I also won't detail the range of considerations, most of which the public is not aware of. And that's the way it is supposed to be. This is the way, so that we protect our soldiers' lives."
The exact number of Hamas divers involved in the infiltration was not specified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but Hebrew-language media reports estimate it to be between five and eight individuals.