IDF arrests hundreds of terror suspects; IDF responds to Lebanese terrorist rocket fire, attacks Hezbollah; Israeli forces attack 250 targets in Gaza, rocket-launching squad eliminated.

Ten Israeli soldiers fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, December 12, the IDF announced on Wednesday morning. Nine were killed during a Hamas ambush in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, according to the military.

Seven of the nine soldiers were from the Golani infantry brigade, while the remaining two were members of the IDF’s elite Special Tactics Rescue Unit 669.

Late on Tuesday afternoon a Golani force was clearing buildings in the heart of the Shejaiya Kasbah when Hamas terrorists set off an explosive device, opened fire and threw grenades at them, wounding four.

The troops sent in to support them were also ambushed, leading to a pitched battle lasting some three hours. The forces were eventually extracted with air and artillery support.

The Golani Brigade soldiers who fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday were identified by the IDF as:

• 13th Battalion commander Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35, from Almog.
• 13th Battalion squad commander Maj. Roei Meldas, 23, from Afula.
• 51st Battalion squad commander Maj. Moshe Avram Bar-On, 23, from Ra’anana.
• Sgt. Achia Daskal, 19, from Haifa
• 51st Battalion platoon commander Capt. Liel Hayo, 22, from Shoham.
• Head of the Golani Brigade commander’s personal staff Col. (res.) Itzhak Ben Pasat, 44, from Sde Yaacov.
• Sgt. Eran Aloni, 19, from Ofakim.

The Special Tactics Rescue Unit 669 casualties were identified as:

• Maj. Ben Shelly, 26, from Kidron
• Maj. Rom Hecht, 20, from Givatayim.

The final casualty was identified as Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, from Ashkelon, a soldier in Battalion 614, the School of Combat Engineering.

At least 115 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza since the start of the IDF ground operation on Oct. 27; 442 Israeli soldiers have died since the war began on Oct. 7.

IDF Arrests Hundreds of Terror Suspects in Multi-Day Jenin Raid

Israeli security forces operating in the Shomron city of Jenin have detained hundreds of Palestinian suspects in a major counterterrorism raid that has already lasted some 30 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday.

The suspects were transferred for questioning by Israel’s security agencies, added the military.

IDF soldiers, as well as officers from the Israel Border Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), have so far searched more than 400 buildings and confiscated 30 weapons, large amounts of ammunition, explosives and other military equipment, the IDF said.

Troops also uncovered and destroyed six bomb laboratories, several tunnel shafts and four “war rooms” used by terrorists in Jenin’s “refugee camp” to monitor IDF counterterrorism activities.

The IDF continued its operations in Jenin on Wednesday afternoon.

In the early hours of the operation in Jenin on Tuesday morning, at least four terrorists were killed during a gun battle with Israeli forces. Troops were also attacked with explosives and firebombs.

Four soldiers sustained shrapnel injuries on Tuesday from “controlled explosions,” the army said. They were hospitalized with minor injuries.

In response, an IDF drone struck the terrorist forces, killing at least four and wounding others, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. The P.A. claimed a fifth Palestinian died overnight.

Since the beginning of the war, more than 2,200 wanted suspects have been arrested throughout Yehuda and Shomron and the Jordan Valley, at least 1,190 of whom are associated with Hamas.

Palestinian terrorists in Yehuda, Shomron and the Jordan Valley have escalated their campaign against Israeli civilians and security forces in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in the northwestern Negev, data published by Channel 14 News on Monday shows.

In the nine weeks since Hamas launched its cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip, the broadcaster counted 1,388 attacks in the disputed territories, including 569 cases of rock-throwing, 287 attacks with explosives, 143 fire bombings and 70 terrorist shootings.

Three Israelis—a civilian, a soldier and a Border Police officer—have been murdered in Yehuda and Shomron since Oct. 7.

In addition, at least 52 Israelis sustained injuries, according to Channel 14. Sixteen people were wounded by stoning, 10 sustained gunshot wounds, eight were violently attacked by Palestinians and two were injured in a vehicular assault, according to the report.

At least 19 members of the security forces were wounded during counterterrorism raids in Yehuda and Shomron, while one Israeli was moderately injured as he “neutralized” a Palestinian terrorist.

IDF Attacks Hezbollah as Lebanese Terrorists Fire Rockets at Israel

The IDF struck Hezbollah terrorists and their infrastructure in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the military said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“Earlier today, IDF fighter jets and tanks attacked several targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” said the military, adding that forces also “attacked terrorist squads on the Lebanese border.”

Hezbollah-affiliated media said Israel Air Force jets carried out a “series of airstrikes” near the border towns of Naqoura, Beita al-Sha’ab and Al-Bustan in Lebanon.

On Wednesday afternoon, air-raid sirens blared in Rosh Hanikra in the Western Galilee, with the IDF saying “a number of launches” were identified from Lebanon towards “several areas” in Israeli territory.

Several of the projectiles fell short inside Lebanese territory, and no injuries or damage was reported.

On Tuesday, the IDF attacked several terrorist sites in Lebanon in response to rocket fire. The military said two launches were detected, to which it responded by shelling the source of the fire. The rockets hit open fields, causing no injuries or damage.

Also on Tuesday, IDF air defenses intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that had crossed from Lebanon into Israel, causing sirens to blare in the Western Galilee.

The military said it shot down several additional projectiles launched from Lebanon “towards areas in the Western Galilee.” The IDF responded with artillery shelling towards the source of the fire.

On Monday, Israel Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist targets following launches from Lebanon towards communities in the Western Galilee. Also, an IAF craft struck a Lebanese terrorist cell that had fired towards Moshav Shtula in northern Israel.

Hezbollah has been testing the waters in recent weeks, initiating a series of fire exchanges as the Jewish state fights Hamas terrorists to the south. Since Oct. 7, three Israeli civilians and six IDF soldiers have been killed in attacks on the northern border.

250 Targets Hit in Gaza;
Rocket-Launching Squad Killed

Israeli ground, aerial and naval forces continued to battle Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip as the military’s “Operation Swords of Iron” entered its 68th day on Wednesday.

Approximately 250 targets were attacked over the past day, the IDF said.

Troops guided an Israeli Air Force fighter jet to strike a terrorist squad in Shejaiya on its way to launch rockets at Israeli territory.

The Israeli military on Tuesday night published dramatic video of a soldier engaging in fierce face-to-face combat with terrorists in Shejaiya.

The helmet camera records the reservist from the Yahalom unit of the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps confronting the terrorists at point-blank range. He kills one terrorist and then is wounded by grenades thrown at him, before entering the building and killing the second terrorist.

Sirens sounded in communities near the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Terrorists have launched more than 11,500 rockets at Israel since the start of the war.