Israel Air Force fighter pilots killed three senior Hamas terrorists on Sunday in a targeted air strike at midday in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis - very near the former Jewish town of N'vei Dekalim.
Hussam Hamdan, one of the three terrorist commanders killed in the strike, was in charge of launching the recent Grad-type Katyusha rocket attacks on the Negev cities of Be'er Sheva and Ofakim.
A second terrorist, Muhammad Hilo, was head of the Hamas Special Forces in Khan Yunis.
No rockets have struck Be'er Sheva or Ofakim since ground troops entered Gaza on Saturday night in phase two of Operation Cast Lead.
The third terrorist, Muhammad Shalpoch, was killed in a targeted air strike Sunday afternoon in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya. Shalpoch was a member of the Hamas' commando forces and was involved in rocket launching attacks.
The IAF attacks were carried out with the assistance of the Israel Security Agency, (Shin Bet), Israel's domestic intelligence agency.
The IDF killed at least 50 terrorists, according to local sources in Gaza, as well as an undetermined number of civilians who were unavoidably caught in the crossfire. IDF troops are reportedly conducting house-to-house searches for wanted terrorists and smugglers' tunnels, and fighting is reported to be heavy.
The IAF attacked over 15 sites, including rocket-launching sites and squads, armed guerrilla fighters and a smugglers' tunnel.
As of 5:00 p.m. Sunday, 29 Israeli soldiers were hospitalized with moderate to severe injuries. Some of the injuries are related to the cold conditions. The wounded include an officer who was listed in critical condition. His family has been notified. A second soldier died Sunday morning of the mortal wounds he sustained in the same mortar attack on Saturday night.