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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is facing fierce resistance from the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
On December 30, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released video footage showing its fighters targeting several main battle tanks and destroying bulldozers of the IDF in Khan Yunis with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices.
In addition, the group targeted a bulldozer of the IDF with rocket-propelled grenades and shelled two gatherings of Israeli troops and equipment in Khan Yunis with mortars on December 31.
In order to boost operations in Khan Yunis, the IDF announced on December 31 that it had deployed a Paratroopers Brigade in southern Gaza. The paratroops will be joining the 98th Division which has been battling Hamas in the Khan Younis area for a month now.
The IDF said in a statement that the Paratroopers Brigade launched an assault on Hamas infrastructure, including observation positions, anti-tank launch positions, and weapons depots over the past week.
The paratroops also killed several Hamas fighters in close-quarters combat, as well as others with sniper fire, according to the IDF.
Separately, the IDF published video footage of the Commando Brigade’s Maglan unit operating in Khan Younis and nearby areas.
The IDF said that the troops recently raided an educational institute in Khan Yunis from which Hamas operatives opened fire at troops. It added that troops found a rocket launcher, documents and other equipment belonging to Hamas in the complex. In other raids in the city, the paratroops found weapons in civilian homes.
The IDF is not doing much better in northern and central Gaza. On December 31, it announced that two soldiers, one from the Yiftah Brigade’s 7810th Battalion and another from the Combat Engineering Corps’ 7107th Battalion, were killed in separate attacks in the two regions.
Their death brought the toll of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in the Strip to 172. Hundreds others have been reportedly wounded.
Sgt. Maj. (res.) Eliraz Gabai (left) and Sgt. First Class (res.) Liav Seada. Via X.
Overall, recent IDF ground operations in Gaza saw very little success. Meanwhile, Israeli losses are increasing as Hamas and other factions in the Strip are adapting and improving their tactics.
