IDF takes over, destroys Hamas's Shejaia headquarters

The IDF took over and destroyed the headquarters of the Hamas' Shejaia Battalion in Gaza City, while also advancing further into the heart of Khan Yunis, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Friday morning.

The forces of the 188th Brigade, in coordination with armored, engineering, and infantry forces and the Air Force, carried out the operation to takeover the Shejaia Battalion's headquarters. On Tuesday, ten IDF soldiers, including several senior officers, were killed and six wounded in an ambush in Shejaia.

During the operation, the IDF eliminated terrorists and destroyed a tunnel shaft where a terrorist was hiding and trying to throw explosives at Israeli forces. The headquarters itself was destroyed by airstrikes, tank fire, and the IDF's engineering forces.

Additionally, during the operation, soldiers from the 414th Field Intelligence Battalion made use of the "Maoz" (Spike Firefly) kamikaze drone, specially designed for urban combat, for the first time to expose and strike a terrorist cell in the area.

The Maoz drone, which can be carried in a backpack and easily deployed in the field by infantry soldiers, has been used several times by the IDF in Jenin in the past year.

IDF continues advance into Khan Yunis

The IDF's Oz Brigade and the 7th Brigade also continued operations in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza over the past day, raiding terrorist infrastructure, eliminating many terrorists, and locating the entrances to tunnels used by Hamas.

During the raids in Khan Yunis, Israeli forces destroyed a weapons warehouse with Iron Sting precision mortars. The soldiers also found motorcycles inside a tunnel, which were used by Hamas in the October 7 attack.