Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
On January 12, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that its troops killed dozens of Hamas fighters during operations in the city of Khan Younis and the nearby town of Maghazi in the southern Gaza Strip over the past day.
In Maghazi, the 36th Division killed some 20 Hamas fighters, including a commander in the group’s elite Nukhba force, according to the IDF.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, the IDF said that the 98th Division directed an airstrike on a building used by Hamas, killing seven fighters. Among those killed in the strike was another Nukhba commander, who participated in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Also in Khan Younis, troops from the Commando Brigade spotted three Hamas fighters coming out of the home and approaching the forces. The commandos opened fire, killing the three, the IDF said. lo
In the Bureij area, close to Maghazi, troops of the Border Defense Corps’ 414th Combat Intelligence Collection unit spotted a Hamas fighter shooting at soldiers from a building. The IDF said that the unit’s soldiers piloted a drone to the window from which the gunman opened fire, and killed him.
From its side, Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said on January 11 that its fighters targeted eight vehicles of the IDF, including two bulldozers, a main battle tank, and an armored personnel carrier, with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices in Khan Younis and nearby areas. Two groups of troops were also ambushed in the city.
Another tank of the IDF was targeted in Khan Younis by fighters from the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The al-Quds Brigades also released video footage showing the wreckage of an Israeli Skylark reconnaissance drone that was shot down by its fighters over northern Gaza.
The IDF intensified operations in the southern and central parts of Gaza in recent weeks after withdrawing from large areas in the northern parts of the Strip. Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions continue to show fierce resistance in all three parts of the enclave.
