The Israeli Army announced this Tuesday that it reached the center of three major Hamas strongholds in Gaza: the Yabalia refugee camp in the north; the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City; and the city of Khan Yunis, in the south, where troops are breaking into land these days, in a new phase of their offensive.
“We are in the heart of Jabalia, in the heart of Shujaiya and now also in the heart of Khan Yunis,” where troops fight “intense battles” in these areas, which he describes as “Hamas strongholds,” Yaron Finkelman, commander of the Army’s Southern Command, said in a statement.
As he stressed, It is “the most intense day” of military action since the beginning of the ground operation on October 27, whether “in terms of terrorist deaths, armed clashes and the use of firepower from the ground and air.”
“We intend to continue attacking and securing our achievements,” he added.
(Also read: Emir of Qatar calls for international investigation of Israel’s ‘brutal crimes’ in Gaza)
According to Finkelman, All of this led to “intense battles” with Palestinian militiamen in recent days, especially in the Jabalia areas. and the Shujaiya neighborhood, where videos spread on social networks show a landscape of devastation due to the harsh bombings that have destroyed many buildings.
According to the Gaza authorities, the Israeli bombings on Shujaiya left at least three hundred dead.
(You may be interested: Israel intensifies operations in Gaza: dozens of tanks enter the southern Strip)
In turn, in the last 24 hours, Israeli troops surrounded the Jabalia refugee camp in the north, which they consider “a Hamas stronghold,” destroying numerous terrorist infrastructure.
“Soldiers gained control of central Hamas positions in the area, engaged and killed terrorists” and located “weapons and terrorist infrastructure, some of which was found in civilian buildings, including a school.”
(Also: Israel raises travel alerts to its citizens due to tension due to war in Gaza)
Why is Israel going after Khan Yunis?
With its advance towards the south of the Gaza Strip, Israel has already undertaken the next phase of the war with a clear objective: to control the city of Khan Younis, bastion of Yayha Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the enclave and where the al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist group, has its most powerful military wing.
The Israeli forces are this Tuesday at the gates of the city, on the northeast flank, engaged in “fierce hand-to-hand combat” with the militants of the al Qasam Brigades, in what could be one of the key battles in the course of the war, since Khan Yunis is the group’s last remaining stronghold.
The fight for Khan Yunis, the second largest city in the enclave, is the last major battle for control of the Strip and probably the toughest. not only because of the military resistance of the militias, but because it is believed that Sinwar and part of the 122 hostages who would remain alive are hiding in its tunnels.
“We believe that the Hamas leadership and the remaining elements of its command structure are in the Khan Younis area. After the successful operations in the north and Gaza City, we have reason to believe that is where they are now hiding,” Eran Lerman, a security analyst and former senior official in Israeli Military Intelligence, told Efe.
“Israel has cleared the Hamas presence from northern Gaza with military pressure. To fulfill the war’s objective of eradicating the Hamas presence from the entire Strip, Khan Younis must be the next target,” he added.
(Read on: Hamas says it will not exchange more hostages until the war in Gaza ends)
And Khan Yunis is the birthplace of Yayha Sinwar, leader of Hamas inside the Strip, and Mohamed Deif, head of the al Qasam Brigades, and military intelligence has indications that both are hiding in the city’s tunnels.
Although Ismail Haniye is the head of Hamas’s political bureau, He has been exiled in Qatar for years and has lost real power within the Strip, which falls both politically and militarily on Sinwar.mastermind of the brutal attack on October 7 on Israeli soil, which left more than 1,200 dead and 240 kidnapped.
In the western part of Khan Yunis is the house of Sinwar and it is reasonable to think that Israel seeks to get there for more propaganda and strategic reasons.. “A photo of Israeli soldiers with the flag at Sinwar’s house has a lot of symbolic power, although I doubt that he left evidence about his whereabouts,” a Palestinian analyst who refused to give his name told Efe.
(In other news: Israeli Army expands its ground operations towards the southern Gaza Strip)
To fulfill the war’s goal of eradicating the Hamas presence from the entire Strip, Khan Yunis must be the next target
The offensive in Khan Yunis has another difficulty: it is a very densely populated city that has also received hundreds of thousands of displaced people. from the north of the enclave since the beginning of the war. According to the UN, 1.8 million people are displaced and more than 70% of its 2.4 million inhabitants are in the south.
The Army asked on Monday to evacuate the northern and eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis through leaflets, text messages and announcements in Arabic on social networks. Israel has come under strong pressure from the US to minimize civilian casualties, following the high death toll recorded in the north.
Faced with the difficult humanitarian situation in Khan Younis, many of its inhabitants flee on foot to Rafah, on the border with Egypt.
But Rafah, where Israel also bombs, is overwhelmed with more than a million displaced people, and shortages of fuel, drinking water and food. “For days now there has been no chicken, meat or cheese, there are only tomatoes and onions,” a displaced person from Gaza City told Efe.
EFE
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