After pullout from Khan Younis, IDF says it is engaged in ‘precise operations’ against Hamas in central Gaza Strip

The IDF and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) eliminated a Hamas military operative responsible for internal security operations in Jabalya as Israel continues its “precise operations against terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the central Gaza Strip,” Israel Defense Forces announced Friday. 

In a joint IDF-ISA operation on Thursday evening, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft eliminated Mohammed Abdallah Ridwan, responsible for directing armed terrorists to take control of humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip. His death degrades Hamas’ capabilities to attack and seize humanitarian aid in the central Gaza Strip. 

On Thursday, IDF troops also eliminated Hamed Muhammad Ali Ahmed, a Hamas commander responsible for the organization’s internal security operations in the Jabalya area, as well as another Hamas operative in its Jabalya Battalion. 

The IDF is shifting to “precise, intelligence-based operations” as it prepares for a ground incursion into Rafah, the final Hamas stronghold. 

Several terrorists were eliminated by the IDF in ground battles and via aerial strikes in the area of Nuseirat over the past day. Additionally, IDF soldiers destroyed several underground and ready-to-fire launch posts in the central Gaza Strip. 

Up to this point, the IDF had not operated in Nuseirat, which is near the sole remaining corridor with a large IDF presence. The operations were carried out based on intelligence indicating “the presence of terror infrastructure and many terrorists in the area,” according to an IDF statement. 

Palestinian news sources reported that “at least 25 civilians” were killed by the IDF in the attacks near Nuseirat, however, the IDF differentiates between civilians and members of terrorist groups when reporting casualties. The accuracy of death toll figures reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, led by Hamas, is subject to scrutiny and debate because they cannot be independently verified.

The issue of humanitarian aid in Gaza has remained an area of concern despite the withdrawal of battalions from Khan Younis, especially for Israel’s Western allies. While Israel recently announced the construction of a new land crossing for trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, many countries have continued to warn of a famine in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza. 

Israel accused the United Nations of not doing enough to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza. While the world body’s organizations accuse Israel of hindering aid into the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Coordinator for the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) published an image showing hundreds of truckloads of aid piling up on the Gaza side of the border at the Kerem Shalom crossing, after clearing Israeli inspection. 

Kerem Shalom is located in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt and just across from the neighborhood of Rafah. The United Nations has aid workers operating in Rafah regularly. 

The content of 600 aid trucks is waiting to be collected by the @UN on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom in a way that prevents the transfer of additional trucks.
We extended crossing hours and scaled up our capacities. @un, Do your job. The bottlenecks are not on the Israeli side. pic.twitter.com/xe0HsfTQEN

— COGAT (@cogatonline) April 11, 2024

“We extended crossing hours and scaled up our capacities. Do your job. The bottlenecks are not on the Israeli side,” COGAT wrote on social media, tagging the UN.