The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted footage of an extensive armored military operation that they launched overnight into Gaza.

“In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza,” the IDF said in a statement.

“IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts,” the statement continued. “The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory.”

Thermal imaging showed roughly a dozen heavily armored vehicles, mostly Merkava tanks, following bulldozers that smashed through Israel’s fence on its border with Gaza that was built to protect Israel from Palestinian terrorists.

WATCH:

In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza.

IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts.

The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/oMdSDR84rU

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023

The operation comes after Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,400 people in unprecedented terror attacks against Israel three weeks ago.

More than 5,400 people were wounded and more than 220 hostages remain kidnapped inside Gaza, according to the latest figures from The Jerusalem Post.

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Hamas was able to avoid detection for the two years it took to plan the attack by using hardwired landlines inside its vast underground terror tunnels. Meetings also took place in person and only a small number of people in the organization knew the exact plans up until right before the attack was launched.

“What is interesting about Hamas is that the rate of growth of the tunnels, not only in size but also in purpose, complemented the development of the organization’s operational concept,” said Prof. Joel Roskin, a geomorphologist and geologist at Bar-Ilan University’s geography and environment department. “It began with the smuggling of goods, progressed to the smuggling of weapons, and later evolved into attack tunnels.”