'Increasing pressure' on Hamas by eliminating 'many terror cells' in Khan Younis, says IDF

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that its 98th Division is continuing a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the area of the Khan Younis camp in southern Gaza.

According to a Times of Israel report, citing IDF, troops are “increasing the pressure” on Hamas, while eliminating “many terror cells” with sniper fire, tank shelling, and airstrikes. Over the past day, the IDF troops of the Commando Brigade carried out raids on Hamas sites in the Khan Younis camp, where they encountered many operatives, including squads planning to fire anti-tank missiles, added the report. Also amid the operations in Khan Younis, the IDF said the Givati Brigade directed airstrikes on two cells of Hamas gunmen; the 7th Armored Brigade raided a number of Hamas sites, where troops killed several operatives and seized weapons used by the terror group; and the Paratroopers Brigade killed “a large number of terrorists,” in a series of attacks. Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says reservists of the Yiftah Brigade spotted a Hamas gunman observing the troops from a building. The soldiers shelled the building, killing the operative. In northern Gaza, the IDF said the 215th Artillery Regiment directed several airstrikes, killing “many terrorists.” Meanwhile, thousands of displaced Palestinians are fleeing Khan Younis as the Israeli military surrounded the city amid further operations west of the area. In a video shared by CNN, displaced people are seen sitting on the side of streets and in the vicinity of the seashore. The video shows cars, trucks, and tractors transporting families and their essential belongings, and crowds of people walking. Many of those fleeing described terrifying scenes. “There are dead people on the ground. We left them behind. There are people killed inside the houses,” CNN quoted displaced Gazan Hisham Sayegh as saying. “We were expecting to die at any minute,” said Sayegh. Israel is reeling from the deaths of at least 24 of its soldiers in Gaza, in what is the biggest single loss of life for Israeli troops in the enclave since the war with Hamas began. More than 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. With inputs from agencies