The IDF is prepared to deepen and escalate its ground operations in the Gaza Strip, defense officials warned on Sunday, as the IDF split the Palestinian territory in half and began surrounding Gaza City. Hamas, the officials said, was encountering difficulties in commanding and delivering orders to its forces.
St.- Sgt. Dvir Emanuelof, 22, from Givat Ze'ev and of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, was killed on Sunday from wounds he sustained in a mortar shell attack during clashes with Hamas terrorists near Jabalya.
Another soldier was critically wounded in the attack. Earlier in the morning, 30 soldiers from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade were injured in clashes, and on Sunday night four soldiers were shot and wounded by Palestinian sniper fire.
By Sunday afternoon, the IDF had divided the Gaza Strip into two segments, in a move aimed at cutting off the flow of arms, supplies and fighters to the northern part of the Strip, as Palestinians claimed IDF tanks had taken up positions near the former settlement Netzarim and troops began surrounding Gaza City. Some 40 rockets landed in Israel on Sunday, scoring direct hits in Sderot and Ashkelon.
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