The IDF says it now has “operational control” over the Philadelphi Corridor — a strip that runs 14km along the Gaza-Egypt border.

There is a small section near the coast where ground forces are not present, but the IDF says it controls the area with surveillance and firepower, Times of Israel reported.

Israel launched a ground offensive towards the last Hamas bastion over three weeks ago, which began in eastern Rafah but has since expanded along the corridor.

Israeli tanks rolled into the centre of Rafah on Tuesday, according to Palestinian reports.

IDF infantry was also reportedly advancing in the Tel Sultan neighbourhood of northwestern Rafah, with tanks positioned there, marking the first ground operation in that part of the city.

Tel Sultan is where one of the four remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah is located, with the others in Yabna (south), Shaboura (north) and east Rafah, all areas where the IDF has been active in recent weeks.

The IDF spokesperson said on Tuesday that the Bislamach Brigade (in peacetime the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders) joined the Armoured Corps’ 162nd “Steel Formation” Division in fighting in Rafah.

Three other brigades are already active in the area. The soldiers are conducting targeted operations against terrorists and their infrastructure there.

According to the IDF, troops from the Nahal Brigade’s combat team located tunnel shafts, seized weapons and killed many terror operatives in the Rafah area in recent days.

Last week, Nahal Brigade soldiers found a large weapons cache and a lathe for the production of rockets and grenades, as well as explosive vests, a rocket-launch complex, platforms for making rockets and more.

Troops are also active elsewhere in Gaza, according to the IDF, including in Jabalia in the north, where dozens of terror sites were destroyed, including observation posts, weapons depots and a building used by Hamas.

Several terrorists were also killed by IDF troops over the past day in Jabalia, including a mortar-launching cell that was hit by a fighter jet.

In central Gaza, the IDF said that it expanded operations in the Netzarim Corridor, killing terrorists and conducting targeted raids.

Written with the Jewish News Syndicate