The Israeli military said on Sunday it had deployed more troops to protect southern communities and areas bordering Gaza ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas.
“The Gaza Division of the IDF (Army) has been strengthened with several platoons, with forces deployed to protect both the communities and the border area,” the army said.
“The troops are fully equipped to defend the area in coordination with local security forces,” it said in a statement.
Inside Gaza, the army said three divisions were working to “destroy terrorist infrastructure and degrade Hamas capabilities.”
“Southern Command remains in a high state of alert and preparedness for the coming days,” commanding officer Major General Yaron Finkelman was quoted as saying.
Earlier, the army said its forces had surrounded the area of Jabaliya in central Gaza, where Hamas is trying to rebuild its operational capabilities.
On October 7 last year, Hamas militants crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, becoming the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
At the end of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the militants launched their attacks from land, air and sea.
A year later, the confirmed death toll from the attack, including hostages killed in captivity, has reached 1,205 on the Israeli side, the majority of whom are civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants kidnapped 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, 33 of whom have been declared dead by Israeli forces.
Hours after the attack, Israel launched a massive military offensive on Gaza, reducing much of the territory to rubble, and displacing almost all of its 2.4 million residents at least once as the humanitarian crisis worsened. .
Israel’s relentless offensive on Gaza has so far killed at least 41,870 people, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.
The United Nations has found the figures credible.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
