IDF Takes Control of Palestine Square; Chief of General Staff Visits Northern Border
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on Sunday that IDF ground forces had taken control of “Palestine Square” in Gaza City. He cited the area as “where Yahya Sinwar’s office is located, as well as government offices, properties of senior Hamas officials, and a network of terror tunnels.”
Hagari noted that Israeli intelligence discovered a strategic network of underground tunnels beneath the square that stretch to Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza City.
Outside of the Gaza campaign, IDF military operations against Hezbollah along the Lebanese border continued to see considerable activity. The IDF Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, visited the area to meet with Northern Command leadership and conduct a situational assessment.
In his statement following the trip, Halevi outlined the IDF’s overarching goal in the area as ensuring the communities living in the north can return to their homes and feel a sense of safety and security in doing so.
Halevi specified that at this time, military dominance of Hezbollah was the most viable strategy to provide that sense of security. He stated, “to damage, to deter, to kill Hezbollah operatives, to demonstrate our superiority, and it can also come in the form of a strike and war,” would be the current solutions utilized.
The IDF also reported on Sunday that Hezbollah launched several rockets toward Israel from within 20 meters of a United Nations compound in southern Lebanon, jeopardizing the safety of UN peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Hagari also reported that IDF forces eliminated a terrorist squad that attempted to launch an anti-tank missile into Israeli territory near the town of Zar’it.
According to Syria’s state-run news agency, a military source with the Syrian government claims that the Israeli Air Force conducted numerous strikes in Damascus, launching missiles from over the Golan Heights into areas near the capital.
The IDF has not commented publicly on this claim.
