by Charles Bybelezer
Israeli military operations across the coastal enclave are ongoing as part of “Gideon’s Chariots.”
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An Israeli tank operates during IDF missions in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, June 2025. Credit: IDF. |
The Israel Defense Forces this week killed Muhammad Uthayn, commander of Hamas’s Daraj Tuffah Battalion, the military said Friday, as ground troops continued advancing in the Gaza Strip in “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.”
Uthayn infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and subsequently carried out attacks against IDF soldiers throughout the ongoing war.
His death further degrades the battalion’s capabilities and reduces its ability to target Israeli troops in the area, according to the military.
בפעילות משותפת של צה״ל ושב"כ, בהובלת פיקוד הדרום ובהכוונת אמ״ן, חוסל במהלך השבוע שעבר מפקד גדוד דרג' תפאח בארגון הטרור חמאס, מחמד עצ׳ין, בתקיפה אווירית במרחב דרג׳ תפאח.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 18, 2025
עצ'ין פשט לשטח הארץ בטבח הרצחני ב-7 באוקטובר, ובמהלך המלחמה קידם והוציא לפועל מתווי טרור רבים נגד כוחות צה״ל.… pic.twitter.com/48eXEczPpd
Also this week, the Israeli Air Force killed Raed Khaled Hasan Jabayin, a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist who served a prison sentence in Israel from 2006 to 2015.
In recent years, and throughout the ongoing war, Jabayin was involved in transferring funds for the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, with the aim of facilitating and carrying out attacks in Judea and Samaria.
According to the IDF, Jabayin played a key role in financing terrorist activity in the region, including arming operatives and planning attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Earlier on Friday, the IDF announced the killing of Barhoum Shahin, head of the Western Gaza District for Hamas’s General Security Apparatus, and Asham Tzartzur, who led the terrorist group’s Government Emergency Committee in eastern Gaza.
Both men played key roles in Hamas’s internal security and governance efforts, including supporting the terrorist group’s “military” wing and enforcing its rule through repression and violence against Gaza’s civilian population.
The IDF said it also killed Faraj al-‘Aoul, the head of Hamas’s legal bureau and a member of its legislative council.
Israeli military operations across the coastal enclave are ongoing as part of “Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign with the stated goal of dismantling Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, taking control of key areas in the Strip and securing the release of the 50 captives.
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck approximately 90 targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorist compounds and underground infrastructure, the IDF said on Saturday.
Ground forces operating in the northern and central Strip eliminated terrorists and destroyed weapons storage facilities. In Gaza City, troops also dismantled rocket launchers and sniper positions.
Troops from the Nahal Infantry Brigade, operating under the command of the 162nd Division, this week identified a terrorist cell armed with a rocket-propelled grenade near Israeli positions in the Daraj Tuffah area of northern Gaza. An IAF craft, guided by soldiers on the ground, conducted a precision airstrike that eliminated the threat.
In a separate operation, IDF ground forces, in coordination with Yahalom special forces combat engineers, uncovered and dismantled a tunnel approximately 800 meters (875 yards) long and 18 meters (20 yards) deep.
The military said troops have destroyed weapons caches, observation posts and terrorist infrastructure, including a facility where Hamas operatives were hiding.
A majority of Israelis want the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli military rule after the war ends, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) this week.
The poll, conducted by Menachem Lazar of Lazar Research at the beginning of July, found that 52% support an Israeli takeover of Gaza with a temporary military administration—if all hostages are first released. Only 4% believe Hamas should remain in power, whether politically or militarily.
Charles Bybelezer
Source: https://www.jns.org/idf-kills-key-hamas-pij-terrorists-as-troops-press-ahead-in-gaza/
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