TSAHAL is expanding the operation north of Gaza, kills a senior Hamas in Lebanon

Israeli defense forces said on Friday that it had expanded its ground operations in the northern band of Gaza, with troops pushing in the eastern district of Shejaiya of Gaza City.

According to the army, operations aim to extend the buffer area of ​​Israel along the Gaza border.

The FDI has said that so far the troops have killed several terrorist agents and destroyed the infrastructure, including a Hamas command center.

The army said it allowed civilians to evacuate the “for their safety” area. He had issued evacuation warnings for Shejaiya on Thursday.

Israel had expressed radical evacuation orders for parts of the north of Gaza before the ground operations. The United Nations Humanitarian Bureau said that around 280,000 Palestinians had been moved since the ceasefire with Hamas collapsed last month.

Throughout the war, the FDI has issued evacuation orders for various fields, advising residents to head towards safe areas to avoid being taken in the fighting. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields by integrating its fighters among the population.

A number of Palestinians leave the targeted areas in the north of Gaza on Thursday made it on foot, some carrying their personal effects on their backs and others using donkey carts.

“My wife and I have walked for three hours covering a single kilometer,” said Mohammad Ermana, 72. The couple, shaking their hands, each walked with a cane. “I’m looking for shelters every hour now, not every day,” he said.

Israel restarted the intense bombing of Gaza on March 18, then launched a new offensive on the ground, ending a ceasefire almost two months in the war with Hamas.

The war broke out on October 7, 2023, when terrorists led by Hamas were unleashed through the south of Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages in Gaza.

Health officials controlled by Hamas said Thursday that 1,163 people had been killed on Palestinian territory since large -scale strikes resumed, taking the overall assessment since the start of the war at 50,523. The toll cannot be checked and does not make the difference between combatants and civilians. Israel says he killed at least 20,000 fighters and 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier in the week than the troops would size a new safety corridor that would apparently make the Rafah while seeking to express pressure on Hamas, which continues to contain 59 Israeli hostages.

TDS Brig spokesperson. General Effie Defrin said on Thursday that the soldiers started a “new step” in the operation designed to return hostages and destroy “the military and governing capacities of Hamas”.

Meanwhile, a Higher Commander of Hamas was killed on an Israeli air strike from the Lebanese Coastal city of Sidon overnight, the army announced.

Hassan Farhat had led Hamas forces in the western sector of Lebanon, according to the FDI. The Israeli air strike had struck an apartment building in Sidon.

During the war, the army said, Farhat advanced numerous attacks on Israeli civilians and the TSAhal troops, and was responsible for a rocket attack on the North Command base in Safed on February 14, 2024, killing the General Staff Sergeant. Omer Sarah Benjo and injuring other troops.

“The terrorist has been involved in the progress of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel in recent months, and his activities have constituted a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” said the FDI.

Images of the strike scene showed a floor of the building in flames, with smoke by pouring. The other floors seem to be relatively unscathed.

Reports on a system of precision earlier by the Israeli Air Force, in an apartment building inside the city of Sidon, in southern Lebanon. The reports that the target eliminated to Sidon was a senior Hamas official. It is also reported that his family was eliminated with him. pic.twitter.com/yqmheofyic

– Eretz Israel (@eretzisrael) April 4, 2025

Hamas has a significant presence in Lebanon and is allied with the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group. Both are supported by Iran.

In February, a TSAhal strike killed another senior commander from Hamas to Sidon. Israel accused him of having plotted and advanced terrorist attacks from Lebanon against Israeli civilians, with Iranian funding and advice.

As part of the November ceasefire with Lebanon, which ended more than a year of combat inspired by Hezbollah, the terrorist group was forced to draw its strengths north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Israeli border and to itch all military infrastructure remaining in the south, while the Lebanese army deployed to control the area.

Israel, on the other hand, was forced to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon within 60 days. The deadline for withdrawal has been postponed, with the approval of Lebanese and the United States, until February 18. Israel finally withdrew from all of Lebanon with the exception of five strategic positions along the border.

Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused themselves of violating the agreement which gives Israel the right to act against the imminent threats of terrorist groups.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.