Israeli forces have deployed robots and various explosive devices to destroy Hamas tunnels and kill terrorists, according to local media.
The Walla News site in Israel said large-scale operations to clear the tunnels began in areas of the Gaza Strip now under the control of the IDF.
A senior officer in the Southern Command told the outlet: “Maybe at first they were able to harass us, sting us by firing from tunnel exits, but after we established control of the areas, the engineering operation started.”
He added: “We are going to collapse the entrances and the tunnels on them. It will become a death zone. They made a mistake, they chose to be in a place they could not escape from. They will die in the tunnels.”
The report suggested that Israeli forces had already destroyed 100 tunnels not including those taken out in air strikes since the beginning of the ground operation.
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The IDF also reported that the military had surrounded Gaza City and was fighting pitched battles with Hamas terrorists deep inside the centre.
Since the start of the war on October 7, more than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
Israel declared war on the terror group after thousands of its fighters stormed into Israel brutally killing 1,400 people, the vast majority civilians.
The rising death toll and humanitarian situation in Gaza has led to calls for a pause in the fighting, including from US President Joe Biden.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected back in the region on Friday. Arab countries, including those allied with the US and at peace with Israel, have expressed mounting unease with the war.
The opening of the Rafah border crossing, allowing hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded Palestinians to leave Gaza, followed weeks of talks among Egypt, Israel, the US and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.
Limited aid has been allowed into Gaza and the lack of fuel means hospitals in the strip were running – or have run out – of power.
Israel has said it would only allow fuel into Gaza if it could be sure that it wouldn’t be diverted to Hamas.
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