Hamas gambled on a ceasefire after its deadly attack on Israel that saw Hamas murdering more than 1,400 Israelis, wounding 5,200+ more, and kidnapping 200+ people. The world may be demanding a ceasefire, but 1,400 victims demand retribution. Israel’s IDF plans on giving those lost souls what they are asking for. They used their awesome air power to pound on 150 tunnel attacks. This shock and awe all over again. This was a necessary act by Israel because they do not want more attacks like they had on October 7th.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it struck 150 underground sites in Hamas’ vast underground terror tunnels. Those tunnels are used for meetings, storing munitions and to attack Israel/ The terrorist use hardwired landlines so that it makes it impossible for Israel to intercept them. It is very likely that the planning of the Oct> attack was planned in one of those tunnels.
The IDF said in a statement:
“During the attack, terrorists of the terrorist organization Hamas were eliminated and combat tunnels, underground combat spaces and other underground terrorist infrastructures were destroyed.”
IDF says it struck some 150 underground Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. pic.twitter.com/sfSC0urYyI
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 28, 2023
The IDF claims that they hit high value targets including the terrorist who was responsible for overseeing Hamas’ aerial assets.
“Overnight, IDF fighter jets struck Asem Abu Rakaba, the Head of Hamas’ Aerial Array. Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas’ UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defense. He took part in planning the October 7 massacre and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF posts.”
IDF says it eliminated the head of Hamas's aerial array, Issam Abu Rukbeh, in an overnight airstrike in the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, Abu Rukbeh was responsible for Hamas's UAVs, drones, paragliders, and air defenses. pic.twitter.com/hfAizPoasx
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 28, 2023
The IDF commander in charge of the operation said:
“We are using fire that has never been seen before in the Gaza Strip.”
“From the air, from the ground or from the underground – the IDF will eliminate every senior or junior terrorist and every terrorist infrastructure of Hamas.”
Lt. Col. Gilad Keinan added:
“In the attack flight tonight, about a hundred fighter jets dropped hundreds of weapons and destroyed hundreds of targets of the Hamas terrorist organization. The Air Force is prepared for the continued development of the campaign, and works together with all the bodies in the IDF when the goal is clear – to destroy everything touched by the hand of Hamas.”
Israel also bombed a site used by Hezbollah in Lebanon:
IDF says it struck a Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon overnight, in response to rocket fire on Israel yesterday, which landed in Syria. pic.twitter.com/cOZ3E78ZIJ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 28, 2023
The IDF
We also heard from a senior spokesperson and received an update from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
It was in the update we learned a little more about what military assets are actually on the ground in Gaza.
“Combined combat forces of armor, combat engineers and infantry have been operating on the ground in the northern Gaza Strip” throughout the day, it said.
Those units carried out attacks on Hamas “cells”, the IDF said, destroying buildings and “neutralising” militants.
It also mentioned helicopters, and Mr Halev’s comments near the top of this post mean we know that those on the ground have significant artillery and air support.
Bulk of Israel’s fighting could take place in underground tunnels, analyst says
Following the expansion of Israel’s ground operations, Rob Clarke, director of the defence and security unit at Civitas, said the bulk of fighting for the IDF could take place underground.
“We’ve seen the the softening up of Hamas military infrastructure by the air [and] by Israeli artillery and strikes over the last three weeks and that’s already prepared… the battle space in order for the IDF troops to go in,” he said.
He said he expected the “bulk of the fighting” to take place in the hundreds of miles worth of underground tunnels beneath Gaza.