Israel destroys Hamas command center in Gaza City

Israel said it had captured and destroyed a command and control center used by a battalion from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza City.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, IDF Spokesman Avichay Adraee said soldiers "eliminated saboteurs" and "destroyed a tunnel opening" where a militant "attempted to throw an explosive device towards our forces."

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#عاجل قوات جيش الدفاع سيطرت ودمرت مقر قيادة كتيبة الشجاعية التابعة لمنظمة حماس الإرهابية. خلال النشاط قضى المقاتلون على مخربين ودمروا فتحة نفق تواجد فيه مخرب حاول إلقاء عبوة ناسفة باتجاه قواتنا. وتم تدمير المجمع من قبل طائرات تابعة لسلاح الجو، ودبابات وقوات هندس على مدار آخر… pic.twitter.com/hzlCf79xzq

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 15, 2023 >

The information could not be independently verified.

The command center in Gaza's Shejaiya district is seen as one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds in the territory. 

Israel estimates that Hamas has a total of 24 battalions, each with around 1,000 members. 

The Israeli army also announced on Friday that it had killed more militants in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

In a tunnel uncovered in Khan Younis, soldiers had reportedly found motorbikes used in the massacres on October 7. 

The IDF said it also destroyed a weapons warehouse and attacked a building used as a hideout by Hamas militants.

Israel's military recovers bodies of abducted soldiers

Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) say they have recovered the bodies of two soldiers seized by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

In one of two posts Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, the IDF said the bodies of CPL Nik Beizer and SGT Ron Sherman were discovered during operational activity in Gaza and returned to Israeli territory.

Both men were 19 years old.

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The bodies of hostages CPL Nik Beizer, 19, and SGT Ron Sherman, 19, who were abducted by Hamas on October 7th, have been recovered from Gaza during operational activity and returned to Israeli territory.

The IDF sends the families its heartfelt condolences and will continue to…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 15, 2023 >

"The IDF sends the families its heartfelt condolences and will continue to support them. Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home," the statement from the military added.

In an earlier post on X, the IDF said had recovered and returned to Israel the body of a 28-year-old French-Israeli hostage Elya Toledano.

The trio were among an estimated 240 people taken hostage during the Hamas attacks on Israel, which were the deadliest in the country's history.

DW correspondent: Israel carries out 'biggest raid' on Jenin since October 7

Israel this week conducted its biggest raid on the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp since Hamas launched its terror attack on Israel on October 7.

The raid lasted almost three days and 12 people were killed, while dozens more were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Israel said it captured several Hamas militants as part of efforts to root out the Palestinian Islamist group.

Reporting from Jerusalem, DW Correspondent Rebecca Ritters said Friday that the operation lasted more than 60 hours:

"We saw bulldozers, weaponized drones and tanks being used. More than a thousand soldiers went from house to house, looking for weapons and [people with] links to terrorist organizations, carrying out gunfights with gunmen inside the camp," Ritters said.

The Israel army continues to see Jenin as a "hotbed of terrorism" and said it would continue the raids until it roots out more Hamas operatives, she added.

"What you see in the aftermath of these raids is the near-total destruction of the streets as soldiers go through, looking for weapons. They often go house-to-house through the walls, leaving people pretty traumatized."