JERUSALEM: Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to eliminate small militant groups that continued to hit the army with gunfire, the military said. on Friday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said soldiers had killed around 100 Palestinian soldiers since the Israeli army launched its latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure grew to end the fighting.
It is said that seven small groups that opened fire on the army were hit by airstrikes, while in the south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in airstrikes.
The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets into the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. There were no casualties, the Israeli Ambulance Service said.
The ongoing fighting, more than nine months since Israel's offensive on Gaza began after the October 7 attack, has highlighted the IDF's difficulty in eliminating fighters who have returned to form. Guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the seaside.
A Telegram channel run by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters with the machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.
Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes east of Khan Younis.
US PRESSURE
US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.
However, there has been no clear sign of progress in talks to end the fighting and bring back the 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas seem to indicate that there are still significant differences between the two sides.
Local residents contacted by messenger app, said that Israeli tanks entered the three eastern villages of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.
The military said its airstrikes hit about 45 targets, including a tunnel and two tunnels that fired rockets into Beersheba in southern Israel.
While fighting continued around Khan Younis in the south and Rafah in the northern part of the region, Israeli tanks pushed into the suburb of Tel Al-Hawa west of Gaza City. , said the residents.
The Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.
Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike in the western Gaza city.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who 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, out of an estimated force of more than 25,000 at the beginning of the war.
