The death toll from the war launched against Israel on Saturday by Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization reached more than 1,000 by 5 pm Tuesday, day four of Operation Iron Swords.
The Israel Defense Forces said control was restored over the dozens of Jewish communities along the Gaza border, albeit at a high price and with individual terrorists still roaming the area.
Mop-up operations are continuing, even as Hamas forces persist launching massive rocket barrages at the Jewish State.
As promised by the terrorist organization, the southern coastal city of Ashkelon came under a particularly heavy, 10-minute barrage of rocket fire at 5 pm Tuesday. Rocket fire was also directed for the first time at communities in northern Samaria, and Red Alert sirens activated in northern Israel as well.
Israeli forces are mining the multiple breaches in the security fence through which the terrorists rode motorcycles, pickup trucks and other vehicles in the invasion of southern Israel.
Thus far, the bodies of 1,500 terrorists have been recovered by IDF soldiers as the military continues to notify relatives of those who were murdered or dragged away back through the fence to become captives of Hamas.
Israel’s security cabinet has approved the mobilization of another 60,000 reservists in addition to the 300,000 already called up. Multiple IDF divisions are already massing along the Gaza border.
IDF naval fighters are continuing to fire at terrorist positions in the enclave and at individual operatives attempting to return through the security barrier. Israel Air Force aircraft are continuing to pound hundreds of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist positions in Gaza as well.
