The IDF continued operations in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, announcing, along with other security agencies, that it recovered the bodies of hostages Ofra Keidar, Shai Levinson, and Yonatan Samareno. Troops from the 162nd Division pressed on in Jabalya in northern Gaza, as Givati Brigade soldiers fought and killed six fighters in the area, the military said.
In the larger northern Gaza area, troops from the 252nd Division continued operations. On Friday, they killed one Hamas engineer and used the information to find and destroy a weapons storage unit, said the IDF.
In Rafah in southern Gaza, troops killed about a dozen Hamas fighters over the last few days, while in Khan Yunis, around 15 sites of fighting infrastructure were destroyed by the military, the IDF said.
Fifty hostages, alive and slain, remain held in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, after 251 were taken on October 7, 2023, in the cross-border infiltration led by Hamas that sparked the Israel-Hamas War.
Operations ramp-up in the West Bank
In the West Bank, where the IDF has been operating more intensely since January in what it said was an anti-terrorism operation, troops operated in 15 different Palestinian towns in the northern West Bank over the weekend. Altogether, three villages and about 1,000 buildings were scanned.
The military updated that there are currently 10 battalions in the West Bank, and that as of Sunday morning, a 30-hour operation in the Jenin area and surrounding villages had been completed. Nine fighters were arrested, and over 250 buildings were scanned. Additionally, two M16s were seized, along with improvised air guns and 10 pipe bombs.
Specifically, in the town of 'Arura near Ramallah, troops from the Binyamin Brigade began an operation there over the weekend, arresting two and confiscating two weapons and about 50,000 "shekels that served terrorist activities,” said the IDF.
In the towns of Bala, Deir el-Ghusun, and Atil, all near Tulkarm, troops apprehended one suspect and confiscated several weapons, said the military. Four suspects were arrested, and over 900 buildings were scanned in the area. Troops located and confiscated six different types of weapons.
After operations in Nablus and the Balata refugee camp last week, troops operated in 'En Baddim, Talluza, and Asira ash-Shamaliya, scanning over 80 structures, interrogating suspects, and confiscating weapons, said the military.
Separately, Israel Police and Israel Prison Service announced that security forces, in the town of Sarua near Hebron, located four guns, stun grenades, weapons parts, and vests. Three individuals were apprehended.