TEL AVIV, May 31. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported the completion of the nearly three-week-long operation in eastern Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.

"The troops of the 98th Division completed their mission in eastern Jabaliya and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip," the army's press office said in a statement. The IDF added that during the fighting in Jabaliya, "more than 200 aerial strikes were carried out in close proximity to the operating troops, during which dozens of terrorists were eliminated, most of them at the command level in Hamas and dozens of terrorist infrastructure and weapon warehouses were destroyed."

The press service added that troops in Jabaliya discovered the bodies of seven hostages taken by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.

The IDF noted that Hamas terrorists turned a civilian area in eastern Jabaliya into a fortified militant complex, pointing out that troops neutralized "more than ten kilometers of an underground tunnel network." In addition, several large weapons production facilities and rocket launchers prepared for launching were discovered and destroyed, the press service added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.