The Israeli military has ramped up its offensive in Gaza, announcing that its air force struck more than 180 targets across the densely populated strip within the last 24 hours. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), these strikes targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives, tunnel shafts, weapons depots, booby-trapped buildings, and anti-tank missile launch sites.

The aerial bombardments are being carried out alongside a massive ground campaign involving five IDF divisions, with tens of thousands of soldiers spread throughout Gaza. In northern parts of the enclave, troops from Israel’s 401st Armored Brigade uncovered several tunnel entrances and hidden weapons caches believed to be used by Hamas fighters.

In one operation, the brigade spotted a group of Hamas operatives hiding inside a building and quickly coordinated a drone strike to take them out. Elsewhere, Israel’s elite Multi-Domain Unit identified Islamic Jihad fighters and called in another drone strike on their position.

The Israeli military says these combined air and ground offensives aim to dismantle militant networks, destroy their supply routes, and disrupt command centers controlling attacks against Israeli territory.

Scenes from Jabalia, a heavily contested town in northern Gaza, showed thick black smoke rising into the sky after repeated Israeli air raids — a grim sign of the deepening destruction across the area.

So far, the IDF has not released details on casualties from its latest operations, and there’s been no immediate official response from Hamas or Islamic Jihad. However, local reports indicate that street fighting and airstrikes have grown more intense in recent days, underscoring the continuing toll on civilians caught in the middle of the conflict.