By: Fern Sidman

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensified its multi-front military campaign across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, striking approximately 130 terrorist targets, including weapons storage sites, command centers, and subterranean infrastructure, in what Israeli officials describe as a decisive effort to dismantle Hamas’s operational capabilities.

According to a report that appeared on Sunday at the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), the expansive air and ground operations, coordinated under the broader “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, signal that the IDF is approaching the culmination of its current strategic phase. The military leadership has promised to present its next steps to Israel’s political echelon in the coming days.

In its Sunday morning update, the IDF confirmed that Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets conducted high-precision strikes against a variety of high-value terrorist targets throughout Gaza. These included command-and-control hubs, weapons depots, launch sites, and underground tunnel shafts used for logistics and ambushes.

Simultaneously, Israeli ground forces carried out tactical raids in several key districts. In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, elite units located weapons caches, while in Rafah’s Jeninah neighborhood, troops uncovered and demolished tunnel shafts and adjacent combat infrastructure.

Operations in northern Gaza were equally aggressive. Forces operating in the Gaza City and Jabalia areas eliminated dozens of combatants, struck military compounds, and dismantled observation posts and sniper nests.

As JNS reported, the Nahal Brigade, operating under the IDF’s 162nd Division, played a key role in the offensive in Daraj Tuffah, where Hamas infrastructure was reduced and enemy observation points were destroyed. Backed by air support, the unit neutralized several Hamas militants and confiscated or destroyed stocks of munitions and explosives.

“Over the past week alone, more than 100 terrorists have been killed by IDF units under the Southern Command,” an IDF statement read, confirming extensive battlefield success. JNS has corroborated the tally through multiple military sources.

The IDF, in coordination with Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, announced the targeted killing of several high-ranking Hamas officials, with the most notable being Ramzi Ramadan Abd Ali Saleh, the commander of Hamas’s naval operations in northern Gaza.

According to military intelligence cited by JNS, Saleh had been actively planning maritime infiltration attacks against Israeli forces. He was killed in Gaza City while reportedly meeting with other operatives.

Also eliminated in the same precision strike were Hisham Ayman Atiya Mansour, deputy commander of Hamas’s mortar array, and Nissim Muhammad Suleiman Abu Sabha, another key figure in Hamas’s artillery units.

Other top-tier operatives neutralized in recent days include Hakham Issa, head of combat support in Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed al-Sheikh, operations commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade, Issa Abbas, company commander in the Zeitoun Battalion and Mohammed Jarasha, company commander in the Sabra Battalion.

These eliminations, as JNS emphasized in its analysis, represent a devastating blow to Hamas’s battlefield coordination and logistical capabilities, potentially creating command disarray among the remaining rank-and-file.

Among the most emotionally charged events over the past 72 hours was the targeted strike against the Hamas cell responsible for the death of Sgt. Asaf Zamir, a 19-year-old IDF soldier killed during fighting in Khan Yunis. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the ambush.

“Shortly after the incident, the IAF struck and eliminated part of the terrorist cell,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family and will continue to support them.”

JNS reported that Israeli officials are closely monitoring potential retaliatory actions from Hamas or other Iran-backed proxies but maintain that Israel now holds operational control over roughly 65% of the Gaza Strip.

Since the expiration of a temporary ceasefire on March 18, the IDF and IAF have maintained relentless momentum. According to the information contained in the JNS report, more than 7,500 terror-linked infrastructure sites have been targeted and destroyed in Gaza, including training grounds, rocket workshops, and underground bunkers.

In a strategic briefing on Thursday night, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Efie Defrin stated that “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” is nearing its operational objectives.

“We have severed Hamas’s control over wide areas of the Gaza Strip and undermined its governance. We are systematically and thoroughly dismantling the terrorist infrastructure while maintaining a firm and stable hold on the ground,” Defrin said.

His remarks, featured in the JNS report call attention to a shift from high-intensity engagements to long-term strategic deterrence, aimed at preventing Hamas from reconstituting its military or political authority.

The IDF’s aggressive posture in Gaza, supported by the intelligence cooperation of Shin Bet and strategic guidance from the Southern Command, reflects an evolving military doctrine: complete battlefield dominance followed by controlled, sustained security enforcement.

As the JNS report noted, Israeli officials believe that with much of Hamas’s senior command structure decimated and its infrastructure crippled, the opportunity exists not just for a tactical victory, but for a broader regional transformation—one where terror no longer governs Gaza and Iran’s reach is meaningfully constrained.

But while the military signals readiness for a transition to the next phase, Israel’s political leadership must now decide whether to cement these gains through further action—or pivot toward a ceasefire linked to the remaining hostages, as diplomatic channels remain active in Qatar.

Until then, the IDF continues to press forward, one target at a time.