Dec. 14 (UPI) — The IDF Thursday said it is making slow but steady progress in Gaza ground fighting against Hamas, including killing several Hamas militants in what the IDF described as a significant tunnel.
The IDF released footage Thursday showing several Hamas fighters killed in the tunnel. The video appears to show a camera lowered into the tunnel when a Hamas fighter touches it before being hit by either a shot or an explosive. Bodies of other Hamas fighters are then seen on the floor of the tunnel.
According to the IDF, more than 100 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza fighting.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reports 18,787 Gazans have been killed and 50,897 injured since the war started Oct. 7.
Al Jazeera reports that at least 26 people were killed Thursday in an Israeli air strike in Rafah in southern Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The ministry said at least 179 people were killed and 300 wounded over the past day.
At least eight Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded Thursday in the fighting including 82nd battalion commander Lt. Col. Shahar Barkai. Two other Maglan special force troops were also wounded, according to the IDF.
Those casualties came just a day after 10 IDF soldiers were killed and six wounded in Gaza ground fighting.
Hamas military spokesman Abu Obaida said on Telegram that the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, killed and wounded dozens of Israeli troops and partially or completely destroyed 72 Israeli Army vehicles within the last 72 hours.
Though Al Jazeera reported those numbers, they could not be independently confirmed.
Hamas also on Thursday called for mass worldwide demonstrations ‘in solidarity with Gaza.’
The IDF said it apprehended “dozens of terror operatives in the Gaza Strip and transferred them for further questioning.”
“During operational activity in the area of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, IDF troops located a building used by Hamas terrorist operatives and located weapons inside. Additionally, during engagements with terrorists in the area of the hospital, a number of terrorists were killed by IDF troops,” the IDF said in a statement.
According to another IDF statement Thursday, the Paratroopers Brigade has operated over the past week killing and apprehending Hamas fighters and uncovering and destroying more tunnel networks.
“During searches in the areas and the residences of Hamas operatives, soldiers of the 7421st Battalion found ready-to-launch Grad missiles, hundreds of explosive devices, dozens of weapons, and a lathe used to produce rockets,” the IDF statement said. “Additionally, soldiers of the 202nd Battalion discovered several memory cards containing materials filmed by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, October 7th.”
