Jerusalem: The Israeli military said on Friday it had engaged Palestinian fighters and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, in an effort to overpower a small group of militants who continued to attack troops with mortars.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Israeli forces have killed about 100 Palestinian fighters since the latest operation began in Khan Yunis on Monday, as pressure grows to negotiate a ceasefire.
According to the report, seven small units firing mortars at troops were hit by the airstrikes, while four fighters were killed in an airstrike further south in Rafah.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said it fired rockets at the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. The Israeli ambulance service said there were no reported casualties.
The ongoing fighting, more than nine months after Israel invaded Gaza following the October 7 attack, has underscored the IDF's struggle to clear the devastated coastal region of fighters who have reverted to guerrilla warfare.
According to Telegram channels run by Hamas and militants of the Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, fighters are fighting fiercely with Israeli forces east of Khan Yunis using machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.
Medics say at least six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in eastern Khan Yunis.
pressure from the united states
U.S. President Joe Biden and leading Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris have both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the proposed ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.
But there has been no clear sign of progress in talks to end the fighting and bring back the approximately 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still held in Gaza. Official statements from Israel and Hamas appear to suggest that serious differences remain between the two sides.
Local residents contacted via messenger apps said Israeli tanks advanced into three villages east of Khan Yunis – Bani Suhaila, al-Jana and al-Karara – and blew up several houses in some residential areas.
The military said Air Force fighter jets struck about 45 targets in Beersheba, southern Israel, including a tunnel and two launch pads from which rockets were fired.
Residents said fighting continued around Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, while in the north of the area, Israeli tanks advanced into the suburb of Tel al-Hawa, west of Gaza City.
According to Hamas' Telegram channel, fighters attacked an Israeli tank in Tal al-Hawa and killed an Israeli soldier.
Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in the airstrikes in the western Gaza city.
According to local health authorities, more than 39,000 Palestinians have died in the fighting in Gaza. They do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Israeli officials estimate that about 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or captured, and the force may have numbered more than 25,000 when the war began.
