Israeli military officials declared Wednesday that Israeli forces had breached Hamas’s first line of defense and were approaching Gaza City, saying the deaths of 16 soldiers this week in and near Gaza were a "heavy price,” reported from The Times of Israel.

Meanwhile, the military continued to pound the Strip and eliminated the commander of the terror group’s anti-tank missile array.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that "with advance planning, precise intelligence and joint attacks [from the land, air and sea], our forces broke through Hamas’s front lines of defense in the north of the Gaza Strip.”

Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, the commander of the IDF’s 162nd Division, said Israeli forces had advanced deep into Gaza and were "at the gates of Gaza City.”

Cohen, speaking to reporters near the Strip, said that over the past five days, "we have destroyed much of Hamas’s capabilities, attacked its strategic facilities, all of its array of explosives, its underground tunnels and other facilities we completely destroyed.”

However, he cautioned that it was a "long task” and much work remained.

Israeli air power continued to provide cover for troops and tanks battling inside the enclave. In one of its airstrikes Wednesday, the IDF said it killed the commander of Hamas’s anti-tank guided missile array, Muhammad A’sar.

According to the military, A’sar was "responsible for all of Hamas’s anti-tank missile units throughout the Gaza Strip, commanded the units in routine times, and assisted their activity in emergencies.”

The IDF said that under his command, numerous missile attacks had been carried out against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.





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