Israeli shelling continues in the Gaza Strip. Explosions have been heard since the morning as the strikes from aircraft, artillery and from the sea continue.

Thick smoke and haze cover much of the Palestinian enclave in Ashkelon, southern Israel, about ten kilometers away. The IDF released footage of today’s operations as well as last night’s operations.

The long hours of shelling, the non-stop blows, made the windows and the ground shake in Ashkelon during the night, until about 04:00 (local and Greek time).

Because of disruption that exists in telecommunications and internet in Gaza, there has been no official casualty count from the Palestinian health ministry so far, but medical sources in the area told an AFP reporter they feared the death toll will be very highfollowing the escalation of Israeli army shelling on Friday night.

Smoke and the smell of burning objects had reached the southern Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot by sunrise as fighter jets continued to fly low and explosions were heard from Gaza.

According to what was reported by the SKAI envoy from Israel, Stavros Ioannidis Israeli troops remain in Gaza, operating deeper into Hamas-run territory and they are trying to create positions where the next stage of attacks will begin.

Israel hit 150 targets in Gaza

The Israeli military announced today that it “hit 150 underground targets” in the northern Gaza Strip overnight Friday into Saturday. According to Israel, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas runs and organizes its operations from a giant network of underground tunnels.

“During the night, Chahal (Israeli army) warplanes they hit 150 underground targets in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including tunnels used by terrorists, underground combat facilities and other underground infrastructure. Several Hamas terrorists were killed,” the Israeli military said in a statement released after a night of heavy Israeli shelling in the Palestinian enclave.

According to the head of the Israeli Air Force, Brigadier General Gilad Keinan, “around a hundred fighter jets” were used in the overnight bombings.

IDF: The head of the Hamas air force is dead

The Israeli military also notes that it killed a Hamas official who was in charge of “motorized paragliders, drones, reconnaissance and air defense equipment.”

“Assem Abu Raqaba participated in the organization of the massacre in the communities bordering the Gaza Strip on October 7”, “had directed the terrorists who infiltrated Israel by motorized paragliders and was responsible for drone attacks on Chahal surveillance posts” , it is clarified in the announcement of the Israeli army.

Video from the operation in which the Hamas official was killed

Hezbollah target and location

A Hezbollah site in Lebanon was also targeted during the bombing in response to a rocket fire, according to the IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an overnight airstrike against a Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon in response to rocket fire into Israel yesterday.

The missiles were aimed at an IDF position in the Golan Heights, but the missiles fell in Syria.