IDF won't stop 'until we return all the hostages,' army chief says as intense fighting continues across Gaza

Gazans claim Israeli missile strike kills 29 in Khan Younis school

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Israel Defense Forces will not stop "until we return the hostages," IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi stated as the army continued operating in several arenas across the Gaza Strip.

After announcing the mission in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, which started around two weeks earlier, was completed, the IDF confirmed that troops have continued their operations against terrorists “embedded in UNRWA's Headquarters in central Gaza.”

Over the past day, the IDF said it located weapons in the headquarters, including explosive drones, grenades, explosive devices, sniper equipment, mortar shells, rockets and RPGs.

During the same operation, troops directed an aerial strike against another combat compound nearby that had been used by terrorists to fire at IDF troops.

The IDF also reported that IDF soldiers and ISA [Shin Bet] forces eliminated Hassan Abu Kuik, the head of Operational Security in Hamas' Internal Security Forces in the Gaza Central Camps.

Hassan was reportedly active in Hamas' Emergency Bureau and led numerous terror attacks against the State of Israel. Additionally, the IDF said it eliminated Naser Mehanna, a team commander in Hamas' military intelligence unit.

On Wednesday, the IDF distributed leaflets in Gaza City calling on residents to evacuate to safer areas.

On Thursday morning, Palestinians reported continued clashes in Tal al-Hawa, in the southern part of Gaza City, as well as the western neighborhood of Sabra.

The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said it estimated at least 30 people had been killed in Tel al-Hawa and Rimal but said it could not retrieve bodies due to active combat.

Fighting also continued in southern Gaza, where Palestinian residents reported intense Israeli bombardment in northern Rafah and in the nearby town of Khan Younis.

The IDF said troops are continuing “targeted, intelligence-based operational activity” in Rafah.

During the past day, IDF troops eliminated “dozens of terrorists” and also destroyed several sites that had been rigged with explosives, including tunnel shafts.

In the area of Tel al-Sultan, soldiers located terror tunnel shafts, RPGs and additional weaponry during raids.

On Thursday morning, five rockets shot from the Rafah area were intercepted by Iron Dome systems.

Meanwhile, Hamas officials in Khan Younis claimed that at least 29 people were killed when an Israeli missile struck near a school in the Abassan neighborhood, on the east side of the city.

Videos on social media showed people inside the school shouting and running for cover after an explosion was heard nearby.

According to a report in Haaretz, the IDF said it was investigating the incident but did not confirm that it was an Israeli strike.

Shortly after, the IDF announced that the Israeli Air Force eliminated the terrorists who carried out the launches in an airstrike. The IAF also struck several terror targets in the area from which the launches were conducted.

During a visit to the central Gaza strip on Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stated, "There is no shuffling or standing still here – you bring in very important achievements every day."

"We exert military pressure in various forms," he told the soldiers. "What is being done in Rafah is different from what you are doing here."

He said the IDF is determined to "destroy as much infrastructure as possible, kill as many Hamas operatives as possible, and kill as many commanders as possible."

"We will also not stop until we return the hostages," Halevi vowed.