The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pounded Gaza City with heavy artillery, keeping up military pressure as new cease-fire negotiations approached. Over the past week, Israeli soldiers killed more than 150 terrorists in close-quarters combat both above and below ground in the Shejaiya area, the IDF said on July 9.
The IDF said it dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure, encountered and destroyed booby-trapped buildings and explosives, and located dozens of weapons and intelligence documents. Six tunnels used by the terrorists, roughly six kilometers (about 3.7 miles) long in all, were located and destroyed, including some command and control centers, according to Israel’s military.
The fighting and Israeli evacuation orders forced thousands of people to leave their homes in Gaza City. The staff of two hospitals—Al-Ahli and the Patients Friends Association Hospital—rushed to move out patients and shut down, according to the United Nations. All three medical clinics run by the Red Crescent in Gaza City were closed.
Israeli troops “raided and destroyed a combat compound and a command and control center of Hamas terrorists located in schools and a clinic that were converted from civilian use to terrorist purposes. In this compound, terrorists from the Shejaiya Battalion fortified themselves, hid, and carried out terrorist activity,” the IDF stated.
Searching the compound, troops found and destroyed a weapons production site and dozens of weapons, including mortars, machine guns, and grenades, as well as “intelligence documents of the Hamas terrorist organization hidden alongside equipment and [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] uniforms,” according to a statement.
Hamas said the intensified fighting was jeopardizing cease-fire talks. Qatari and Egyptian mediators are working toward a cease-fire deal aimed at ending the war and releasing Israeli hostages from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
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Hamas quoted its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, as saying Israel’s assault “could bring the negotiation process back to square one.”
In the north, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said an Israeli strike in Syria had killed a former personal bodyguard of its leader. Hezbollah didn’t release the circumstances of the strike that killed Yasser Nemr Qranbish.
A Syrian government radio station reported an Israeli drone strike on a car in Syria near the Lebanese border. A UK-based group, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said two members of Hezbollah who were passengers in the car were killed and the Syrian driver was critically wounded. Hezbollah supporters on social media said he had served as a bodyguard for leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Alma Center, a strategic consulting firm specializing in Israel’s northern frontier, said in a social media post that Mr. Qranbish, also known as Haj Abu Al-Fedal and Amin, was killed while driving on Syrian Road 1 west of Damascus, the main road connecting the Syrian capital to the Lebanese border.
Formerly Mr. Nasrallah’s bodyguard, according to the Alma Center, Mr. Qranbish was now reported to be a senior operative and possibly a commander in Hezbollah Unit 4400, transferring weapons to Lebanon. The central said Mr. Qranbish’s status was reflected in Hezbollah’s response of launching rockets and drones into Israel.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, released 10 minutes of video recording that it said its drone had shot of 17 Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights.
The Iran-aligned terrorist group earlier had published a video recording of more than nine minutes of surveillance in Israel, including Haifa’s airport and sea ports.
“Publishing this video sends a clear message to the enemy and its army,” Hezbollah spokesman Muhammad Afif said.
A Lebanese television station in June said the videos showed unmanned aircraft had bypassed Israel’s defense systems and returned to Lebanon without being detected or shot down.
Amid the increased military pressure, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved a plan on July 9 to start drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military. The move is likely to strain relations within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling right-wing coalition.
Two ultra-Orthodox parties see religious draft exemptions as a key to keeping their constituents in religious seminaries and out of a melting-pot army that might test their traditional customs.
Israel’s reserve-heavy army, though, needs more troops after nine months of war with Hamas in Gaza and increasing tension with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Many Israelis resent that the risk of fighting in Gaza isn’t equally shared. Some ultra-Orthodox have demonstrated against the draft, blocking roads under the banner “death before conscription.”
Many Orthodox Jews, often termed “the national Orthodox,” support the military and do military service.
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last month that the state must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox seminary students.
Mr. Gallant’s order provides for an initial screening and evaluation of potential recruits. Israelis are usually screened from age 16 and enter military service at age 18.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
