Over 9,000 ‘terrorists’ eliminated in Gaza since Oct 7, says Israel

The IDF has also eliminated two out of Hamas's five brigade-level commanders, Israel's army announced.

The Israel Defence Forces has eliminated more than 9,000 Palestinian ‘terrorists’ in the Gaza Strip during its ground offensive against Hamas, the military said on Sunday, citing data between October 7 and January 9.

A picture taken from the Israeli border with Gaza shows Israeli soldiers in an armoured vehicle convoy returning from the Palestinian territory on January 15, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)

The IDF has also eliminated two out of Hamas' five brigade-level commanders, the army announced. In addition, 19 battalion-level commanders and 50 company commanders were killed.

Before Israel launched its war in retaliation for Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attacks on the northwestern Negev region, in which 1,200 people were brutally massacred, the terror organization comprised approximately 30,000 fighters, the IDF has said. Meanwhile, the number of hostages being held in Gaza is believed to be 136.

Over the past three months, the Israeli military attacked some 30,000 terror targets in the coastal enclave, and ground forces detained 2,300 terror suspects in the Strip for interrogation.

On the country's northern borders, the IDF and Israeli Air Force have attacked roughly 750 targets in Syria and Lebanon since the start of the war. Some 2,000 rockets and missiles entered Israeli territory from Lebanon, in addition to about 30 projectiles launched from Syria.

The IDF said 522 soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, of whom 188 were killed since the start of the ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27. More than 2,500 troops have been wounded, including 388 who sustained severe wounds and 672 who were moderately injured.

Earlier on Sunday, Bituach Leumi, Israel's social security administration, published comprehensive data on civilian casualties.

According to the organization's most recent data, 779 civilians have been murdered by terrorists since Hamas launched its surprise attacks, including 76 foreign nationals.

More than 50,000 civilians have been injured, including 102 seriously and 171 moderately.

Bituach Leumi recognized 1,962 people as recurring victims of hostilities--people previously injured in terrorist acts who were again injured during the past 100 days of fighting.

As Israel marked on Sunday 100 days since the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas continued to launch rockets throughout the day, setting off air-raid sirens in Ashdod, Yavne, Kibbutz Sa'ad, Moshav Ben Zakai, Moshav Zimrat and Moshav Shuva. No casualties were reported.

Also on Sunday, Mira Ayalon, 76, and her son Barak Ayalon, 48, were killed in their home in Moshav Yuval in the Upper Galilee by two anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon. Barak Ayalon was a member of the community's civilian emergency response team.