Tel Aviv [Israel], December 22 : The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has called on the residents of central Gaza's Bureij town to move to the south and head for shelters in Deir al-Balah as they plan to expand the military's ground offensive, The Times of Israel reported.
IDF's Arabic-language spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map of the zones that need to be evacuated alongside the announcement.
He further said that Gaza's main north-south highway, Salah ad-Din, in the areas northeast of Khan Younis, still remains a "battle zone," according to The Times of Israel.
Moreover, the IDF will facilitate the movement of civilians via a bypass route along the coast, he added.
Adraee also highlighted that the IDF will make "tactical pauses in military activities" in the western neighbourhoods of Rafah in southern Gaza between 10 am and 2 pm for "humanitarian purposes," The Times of Israel reported.
Earlier in the day, the IDF said that the troops of the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade operating in central Gaza's Juhor ad-Dik located a cache of weapons and long-range rocket launchers used in recent attacks on Israel.
The rocket launchers were later destroyed in an airstrike, added the IDF.
Meanwhile, the IDF announced that two more troops were killed while fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has brought the death toll in Israel's ground offensive against the terror group since late October to 139, reported The Times of Israel.
On Thursday, the IDF said that it has established full "operational control" over Gaza City's Shejaiya neighbourhood, which witnessed fierce fighting during the ground offensive against Hamas.
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