2024-01-23 10:10:58
The Israeli military says it has surrounded Khan Younis. The troops encircled the Gaza Strip’s second largest city in the south in an extensive operation on Monday and intensified the fighting in the region, the military said. “The area is a major stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.” Ground troops are involved in close combat, the air force is attacking. “Dozens of terrorists” were “eliminated” in the process.
At the beginning of December, the Israeli army had already reported the encirclement of the largest city in the south of the Palestinian coastal area. According to eyewitnesses, there were recently fierce fighting between members of Hamas and Israeli soldiers in the west of the city. The Palestinian Red Crescent relief organization spoke of dozens of deaths and injuries.
Khan Younis is considered a Hamas stronghold. Israel suspects that the leadership of the Islamist organization as well as Israeli hostages are in the tunnel network in the area. The army had already announced an expansion of its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in southern Israel on October 7th. They murdered 1,200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 25,000 people have been killed so far.
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