Israeli brigade leaves Gaza after dismantling 70 tunnels

TEL AVIV: In the last two months, soldiers from the 55th Brigade have dismantled 70 tunnel shafts, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed as the brigade was withdrawn from Gaza on Thursday.

The brigade will be replaced by other forces in the area as the IDF shuffles its forces in the Strip. When the deployment process is completed, there will be five combat brigades in Khan Yunis, compared to the seven that were there until a few weeks ago.

Khan Yunis, Gaza's second-largest city, is regarded as a personal stronghold of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

In other recent military activities in the area of Khan Yunis, an Air Force jet destroyed a launcher firing long-missiles.

During the last day, a combat team of the Paratrooper Brigade eliminated terrorists in short-range incidents.

Meanwhile, a combat team identified several terrorists in the field and directed an air strike which eliminated the squad.

The operations and redeployment come against the backdrop of negotiations for a temporary ceasefire.

The emerging formula as reported by the Tazpit Press Service, is the release of one Israeli hostage for 30 imprisoned terrorists for each day of the ceasefire.

That amounts to 35-40 hostages being released in exchange for Israel commuting the sentences of 1,200 Palestinian prisoners over approximately six weeks.

Hostages would be released in stages, with women and children being freed first, then men and soldiers. Bodies being held by Hamas would be released last.

In addition, Israel forces would withdraw from positions in Gaza cities, but not from the Strip itself, which Hamas has been demanding.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children and soldiers held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 136.