Conflicts & War

Israeli army takes control of Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza

Jerusalem, Dec 17 (EFE).- The Israeli Army said on Sunday that it had expanded its control over more areas of Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip, a stronghold of the Islamist Hamas group.

According to a military statement, the 7th Armored Brigade conducted a raid on the offices of the commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis battalion and the vacation homes of several senior Hamas commanders, including its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

The statement indicated that Israeli forces had established operational control of the area, including Bani Suheila Square in the city center.

During the past week, Israeli soldiers in the city killed several Hamas militants, identified around 30 tunnel shafts, and destroyed various anti-tank missile launches and surveillance posts in the region.

“They also confiscated grenades and found intelligence material, including Hamas phones, computers, and travel guides,” the Israeli military said.

Colonel Elad Tzuri, the chief of the 7th Armored Brigade, said the military found weapons and tunnels inside the vacation homes of senior Hamas officials, including that of Yahya Sinwar.

Soldiers conducted a targeted raid on Hamas’ Deir el Balah battalion command, confiscating intelligence materials.

They entered the house of an agent belonging to the Islamist group’s elite Nukhba force, where weapons and equipment belonging to Hamas naval forces were found.

In the ongoing fighting within the enclave, the army confirmed the deaths of two more soldiers, bringing the total number of casualties in its ranks since the ground offensive began on Oct. 27 in the strip to 121.

Since the war began on Oct. 7, some 19,000 Gazans have been killed in the Israeli military offensive, including almost 8,000 children.

More than 51,000 people are injured, and an estimated 7,500 bodies lay buried under the rubble of the buildings destroyed in the Israeli air strikes, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The war began after a Hamas attack on Israeli soil that left over 1,200 people—more than 800 civilians—dead and 240 kidnapped, of whom 129 remain captive within the Palestinian enclave. EFE

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