The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it killed a top Hamas weapons manufacturer as an Israeli air and ground offensive targets terrorist tunnels beneath Gaza City.
An Israeli airstrike killed Moshen Abu Zina, the head of Hamas' Weapons and Industries, who was an expert in developing strategic weapons and rockets used by the terrorist group, the IDF said.
Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City, where Hamas has built a vast network of underground tunnels to move fighters and supplies as it carries out attacks on Israel. The military said troops are now in "the heart of Gaza City" and Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that his soldiers were "tightening the noose" on the terrorist group.
"[Troops] have one target - Hamas terrorists in Gaza, their infrastructure, their commanders, bunkers, communications rooms," said Gallant.
ISRAEL PUSHES DEEPER INTO GAZA AS UN ESTIMATES 15,000 FLEE SOUTH: LIVE UPDATES
Thousands of Palestinian civilians were seen fleeing the northern Gaza Strip, headed south, on an evacuation corridor the IDF opened to permit safe passage for Gazans to escape the fighting, Reuters reported.
However, thousands of Palestinians still remain inside Gaza City, including at the main Al Shifa hospital, where IDF alleges Hamas has established its main base of military operations underground.
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With the war now entering its second month, UN officials and G7 nations stepped up appeals for a humanitarian pause in the hostilities to help alleviate the suffering in Gaza, where buildings have been flattened, and basic supplies are running out. The Hamas-led health ministry claims more than 10,000 people have been killed, 40% of them children, although those figures cannot be independently verified.
The civilian death toll is staggering, but Israeli and U.S. officials have emphasized that Hamas places military targets near hospitals, schools, places of worship and residential homes, using the people of Gaza as human shields.
Israel's ferocious offensive in Gaza comes in response to the Hamas terror attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which terrorists brutally killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took at least 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's stated intention is to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, pounding it from air, land and sea while ground troops have moved in to divide the narrow coastal strip in two in fierce urban fighting amid the ruins of buildings.
Gallant said Tuesday that Hamas's most senior official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was isolated in his bunker in Gaza. Sinwar is believed to be a key planner of the Oct. 7 attacks.
"[Sinwar is] cut off from his surroundings, his chain of command is weakening," Gallant said.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said combat engineers were using explosive devices to destroy Hamas tunnels.
The IDF reports that 33 soldiers have been killed since the ground assault in Gaza began.
Fox News Digital's Andrea Vacchiano and Reuters contributed to this report.
