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Israeli airstrikes destroyed several targets in the area near the town of Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, the IDF reported Friday.
Israel Defense Forces have, to date, avoided attacking the border area to prevent diplomatic tensions with Egypt and to not endanger the hundreds of thousands of refugees from northern Gaza who are seeking shelter there.
Despite this, the Hamas terror organization has launched many of the recent rocket barrages against Israel from the area of Rafah, forcing the IDF to attack the terror organization there, as well.
The IDF recently released documentation showing that Hamas has repeatedly launched rockets from the al-Mawasi area, a strip along the coast near Rafah which has been declared a humanitarian safe zone by Israel.
Rafah is the last major town in the Gaza Strip to have not been subject to Israel’s ground offensive after the northern area surrounding Gaza City has almost been fully secured and heavy fighting has continued in the southern town of Khan Younis.
Israeli fighter jets, helicopter gunships and drones were used to destroy military sites, guard posts, observation posts, weapons warehouses, and command and control centers belonging to Hamas’ security facilities.
Some of the sites were used by Hamas for smuggling operations from Egypt, especially for the supply of weapons for its fighters.
“Damage to these terrorist infrastructures harms the terror organization’s ability to smuggle more weapons into the Strip,” the IDF said.
The security apparatus of Hamas took an active part in stealing humanitarian resources that were entering the Gaza Strip. It has also assisted in weapons smuggling and has been complicit in the fighting against the IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip