Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on January 25 that its troops are advancing in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement released in the morning, the IDF says snipers from the 98th Division’s Paratroopers Brigade took out “many” Palestinian fighters in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis.
According to the IDF, dozens of Hamas fighters were neutralized in the past day, including ten who were killed in two separate airstrikes in the city, some of whom were armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Israeli troops also destroyed infrastructure and weapons in the area, the IDF said.
In addition, the Maglan commando unit raided several Hamas sites in the southern city, including command centers where fighters were killed by the troops in close-quarters combat, according to the IDF.
The IDF also published footage that shows an attack helicopter striking a building and killing fighters who had opened fire on reservists of the Yiftah Brigade in central Gaza.
Later in the afternoon, the IDF announced that troops of its elite Commando Brigade were establishing operational control in “the heart of” Khan Younis.
The brigade was “continuing the offensive in the Khan Younis area, and is deepening the operational control of the Hamas terrorists’ stronghold,” the IDF said. It added that the troops encountered while advancing in the city many Hamas cells, which were “eliminated with sniper fire, guided missiles, and tank shelling.”
In what the IDF described as a “special operation” carried out by snipers from the brigade’s Egoz unit over the course of a number of hours, several Hamas fighters were killed after being tricked into coming out of tunnels in Khan Younis.
And in another afternoon update, the IDF said that troops from the Paratroopers Brigade further expanded their activities in Khan Younis. It also released footage showing Hamas fighters being killed by sniper fire and in close-quarters encounters.
The Paratroopers Brigade encountered numerous Hamas fighters, raided the group’s sites and seized and destroyed weapons, the IDF said.
It added that the paratroops located a large cache of firearms, grenades, explosive devices to be dropped from drones, and mortars during a raid on a Hamas site in the city.
In another raid, three Hamas fighters opened fire at the troops. The IDF said that the paratroopers returned fire, killing two of the operatives, while the third fled into a building.
The IDF developed its ground operations in Khan Younis earlier this week in an apparent response to the al-Maghazi attack in central Gaza, which claimed the lives of 23 Israeli troops. Despite reporting major gains, the situation in the city remains unclear. Hamas and other Palestinian factions are still present there and resisting.
