The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to pound Palestinian terrorists inside of Gaza on Monday night and into Tuesday morning in response to terrorist attacks launched against Israel that started over a week ago.
The latest strikes come as more than 3,150 rockets have been fired toward Israel from Palestinian terrorists with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). More than 450 of the rockets have fallen inside Gaza and Israel’s Iron Dome has successfully intercepted approximately 90% of the remaining rockets.
The following are a few of the recent developments highlighted by the IDF:
- Over the last days, Israeli naval troops spotted suspicious activity in the Northern Gaza Strip, nearby assets of the Hamas’ naval forces, and tracked the movements of a number of suspect enemy combatants. Today, using IAF aircraft surveillance and naval capabilities, several of the suspects were spotted with a vessel, suspected of being a Hamas submergible naval weapon. The vessel was being taken to the shore and appeared to be on its way to carry out a terror attack in Israeli waters. A short while ago, an IDF naval vessel and an aircraft targeted the operators and the weapon in order to remove the threat.
- A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck the main operations center of the Hamas internal security forces in the Rimal neighborhood, in the northern Gaza Strip. The operations center was a central part of Hamas terror infrastructure. It served as a base for military intelligence operatives.Prior to the strike, the IDF provided advance warning to the occupants of the building and allowed sufficient time for them to evacuate the site.
The Daily Mail described the attack on the naval vessel as a strike on a “Hamas ‘suicide submarine’ after militants were spotted launching the autonomous submersible in northern Gaza.”
IDF fighter jets struck the main operations center of the Hamas internal security forces in northern Gaza. The operations center was a central part of Hamas' terror infrastructure.
We provided advance warning to those inside & allowed sufficient time to evacuate. pic.twitter.com/uJ9LQsRAHo
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 17, 2021
סיכול כלי צולל בלתי מאויש בצפון הרצועה מוקדם יותר היום: pic.twitter.com/eltPJRgprP
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 17, 2021
In strikes that were launched on Sunday evening and carried into Monday morning, the IDF demolished several miles of underground terror tunnels. The operation involved the use of 54 fighter jets that dropped more than 100 precision bombs.
In Washington, D.C., the Biden administration green-lighted the sale of nearly a quarter billion dollars of precision munitions to Israel, which Congress was notified of a couple of weeks ago. However, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) is now reportedly considering sending a letter to Democrat President Joe Biden asking that the sale of the weapons be delayed so that lawmakers can review the sale, which comes as Israel continues to combat terrorists.
Exactly 1 week ago, Hamas fired rockets at Israel's capital, Jerusalem.
This is what the week in Israel has looked like since: pic.twitter.com/JEKQ0fILWY
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 17, 2021
Related: WATCH: Israeli Military Calls Off Air Strike On Area Because They Believed Children Were Present