Israel orders evacuation in Gaza City ahead of military operation

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday said that the country’s 99th Division was conducting operations around a United Nations building that it said was used by Hamas fighters. In the building Israeli soldiers located weapons and ammunition and arrested several terrorists. Before converging on the building, the IDF opened a corridor for civilians to escape the area, it said. The building was a regional headquarters for the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, also called the UNRWA, the IDF said. UNRWA on Wednesday called for a ceasefire, saying hundreds of IDF attacks have struck UN facilities since the war began.

What’s happening elsewhere in Gaza right now? The IDF on Wednesday reported that its 162nd Division conducted operations in the city of Rafah in Southern Gaza. During those operations, Israeli troops killed several Hamas terrorists, discovered caches of militants’ weapons, and destroyed tunnels terrorists were using in the area. Aircraft and other units also carried out infantry raids and airstrikes on other locations in central Gaza, the IDF said. Israeli forces also said they arrested a dozen individuals it believed were supplying materials to Hamas.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Israel remains committed to completely eliminating Hamas.