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Defence chiefs in Tel Aviv claimed to have struck 320 targets as it homed in on Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels and rocket-launching sites.<\/p>\n
They said a new weapons system dubbed the Iron Sting had successfully destroyed terrorist rocket launchers with mortars guided by laser and GPS.<\/p>\n
Daniel Hagari, chief military spokesman, said troops also carried out \u201climited\u201d ground operations in which they engaged with Hamas fighters after crossing the border on foot.<\/p>\n
Rear Admiral Hagari added: \u201cDuring the night there were raids by tank and infantry forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese raids are raids that kill squads of terrorists…These are raids that go deep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> Biden rushes out of briefing early as Hamas hostage negotiations intensify<\/strong><\/p>\n Another spokesman said the Israeli Defence Force would strike wherever it needed to as it battled to root out the terrorists behind the barbaric cross-border raids two weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, Hamas has entrenched itself among the civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. So wherever a Hamas target arises, the IDF will strike at it in order to thwart the terrorist capabilities of the group, while taking feasible precautions to mitigate the harm to uninvolved civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n But health authorities in the blockaded territory \u2013 controlled by Hamas \u2013 warned that the 436 new fatalities raised the death toll from a fortnight of fighting to more than 5,000.<\/p>\n The 5,086 total included 2,055 children, 1,119 women and 217 elderly victims, while more than 15,273 people have been injured in the retaliatory action.<\/p>\n Among targets hit was a residential block in Jabalya, which killed 17 people. Among them were 11 members of the same family, including six children.<\/p>\n A relative said: \u201cThe children were supposed to be at school with exams, but like every other kid in Gaza, they were sitting in their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the strip\u2019s civil defence unit, said the raids were also making rescue work increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cOur crews are recovering victims in the form of body parts, and the chances of recovering survivors are diminishing.\u201d<\/p>\n Seven hospitals in northern Gaza have been forced to close because of damage from air strikes, a shortage of power and supplies or Israeli evacuation orders.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5028758.jpg?r=1698093582621\")
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