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Israel focuses on southern Gaza: after Khan Yunis, it targets Rafah

A senior military officer said that Israeli armed forces are “dismantling” Hamas's infrastructure in Khan Yunis, more than two months after it entered the main city in the southern Gaza Strip, and believe the leader of the Palestinian faction in Gaza is hiding there. This Thursday.

The progress made in Khan Yunis prompted Israel to describe the city of Rafah, located to the south and along Gaza's border with Egypt, as the next target for a ground invasion of troops and tanks. In fact, today Israel launched several air strikes on Rafah.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now taking refuge in the area, having been displaced elsewhere during four months of fighting, for fear they will be next in the line of fire.

Cairo is also monitoring the situation in Rafah, after Khan Yunis, the largest city in the south, and has ruled out allowing any refugees to exit through the fence into the Sinai Peninsula.

A senior Israeli military officer stated that operations in Khan Yunis to destroy Hamas and recover any hostages who may be there will continue as long as necessary, whether “two hours, two days, two weeks, two months, or even longer.”

Israeli forces killed 2,000 fighters, wounded 4,000, and captured “hundreds,” in the words of the officer who requested anonymity. “The Khan Yunis Brigade was the strongest force Hamas had. “We are dismantling it layer by layer,” he added. It also detailed how attacks by Palestinian fighters have become increasingly indiscriminate, indicating a loss of command and control.

Khan Yunis is the birthplace of Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 killing and kidnapping spree in southern Israel that sparked the war. The Israeli military man confirmed: “He is undoubtedly in Khan Yunis, along with some of the remaining Hamas leaders.”

The Israeli army published photos of alleged Hamas tunnels discovered in Khan Yunis, along with living spaces and cells where hostages were supposedly held.

The Israeli army estimates that 228 soldiers were killed and 1,314 wounded in ground operations in the Strip that began on October 20. (Reuters)