Combat teams under the command of the IDF’s 99th Division discovered large quantities of weapons hidden in a high-rise building and in a terrorist’s apartment in the heart of Gaza City in recent days.
The combat teams of the 3rd Brigade, the 8th Brigade, the Commando Brigade, and the Multidimensional Unit operated last week area surrounding Gaza City. The troops searched and raided an area being used by Hamas to rebuild its military capabilities inside UNRWA headquarters
During the operation, IDF soldiers raided buildings where Hamas terrorists were located, including one in a civilian neighborhood where a terrorist had barricaded himself. During the operation, IDF troops located weapons, ammunition, Hamas naval commando equipment, military vests, rifles and intelligence materials.
IDF soldiers uncover Hamas commando equipment, weapons and ammunition in Gaza City, July 20, 2024. (Photo: IDF)
The IDF reported that 99th Division troops eliminated over 150 terrorists, and destroyed approximately 100 terrorist sites, in addition to locating an underground weapons workshop.
On Saturday night, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed a structure used by the company “Elkahira” to store and transfer substantial funds to terrorist organizations in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
The IDF also struck and killed a Hamas operative with Elkahira, Tahsin Elandim, known to have transferred funds to terrorist organizations in Gaza, including to Hamas’ military wing.
As the IDF has intensified intelligence-based operations in recent months, particularly targeting and eliminating several senior Hamas leaders, Israeli leaders are calling this a “turning point” in the war against Hamas.
During a Sunday morning interview with Reshet Bet radio, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz mentioned the possibility of an imminent hostage deal, saying: “Hamas has folded and is ready today for things for which it was not prepared before.”
Since the beginning of the conflict, the IDF and Shin Bet have uncovered a vast amount of Hamas intelligence resources – including documents, computers and digital files – giving them a better understanding of Hamas’ internal structure and its war goals.
A senior security intelligence official told The Jerusalem Post: “The amount of intelligence accumulated so far in the hands of Shin Bet and Military Intelligence allows us to dismantle Hamas from within.”
The intelligence reportedly shows that Hamas has been transitioning its military wing from a collection of fighters into an organized army.
IDF and Shin Bet forces have also found extensive records detailing equipment, protocols of meetings, and notes of discussions between senior and junior officers.
A military official told the Post, “Hundreds and thousands of interrogations of terrorists and senior leaders would not have yielded such intimate intelligence on their methods of order and organization in such a short period.”
Officials found documents showing Hamas plans to operate in various locations without attracting attention, including in Egypt, Jordan, Europe and the United States. The plans were reportedly uniquely tailored for each country.
Some of the documents recovered revealed the corruption within Hamas and its connections to various aid groups, for example, apartments of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were registered in the name of the wife of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.
The apartments of Muhammad Sinwar, brother of Hamas head Yahya Sinwar, were reportedly provided by UNRWA and rented to Palestinians, according to Israeli military intelligence, which also discovered evidence of Hamas terrorists working for UNRWA.
The IDF also alleges that the tunnels connecting Egypt and Gaza under the Philadelphi Corridor were used to smuggle over 150 pickup trucks and more than 350 Chinese motorcycles that were used during the Oct. 7 attacks.
50-meter deep, four-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel uncovered by Israeli soldiers (Photo: IDF)
Lt.-Col. (res.) Amit Yagur, a former senior official with the IDF’s Planning Division and Naval Intelligence, recently told the Maariv news outlet that the war against Hamas is changing.
“We are now at a turning point in the campaign,” Yagur said. “Hamas has not been defeated or retreated, but it is clear that its position is changing,” and now appears to be weaker.
In his opinion, the prolonged war has “severely damaged Hamas’ human and other reservoirs,” especially the takeover of the Philadelphi Corridor.
“It’s a serious mistake that we didn’t take it over from January,” Yagur added.
