IDF says airstrikes have hit 5,000 targets in Gaza Strip since the beginning of ground operations

Israeli soldiers take part in ground operations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at a location given as Gaza in this screen grab from a handout video released November 11, 2023. Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

The Israeli military said Saturday that the air force has struck some 5,000 targets in the Gaza Strip to "thwart threats in real time." 

The IDF said about 3,300 attacks were carried out by fighter jets, about 860 attacks by helicopter gunships and over 570 attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Many of these precision strikes have taken place in close proximity to Israeli troops fighting Hamas on the ground, the military said.

The shortest response time measured was about six minutes from when troops called for an airstrike, according to the IDF.

Earlier, an IDF aircraft attacked a rocket launcher in Lebanese territory from which the terrorist group Hezbollah fired at Israeli military posts and forces along the border. 

Rocket sirens and drone alerts sounded in northern Israel on Saturday as Iran-backed militia groups continue to harass Israeli forces amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah has fired missiles and carried out drone attacks in Israel dozens of times since the war began on Oct. 7.