Khan Younis invasion highlights Israeli defeat in Gaza
Khan Younis invasion highlights Israeli defeat in Gaza
TEHRAN- Israeli ground forces, backed by warplanes, have invaded Gaza’s Khan Younis once more in a major sign that Tel Aviv is incapable of defeating the Palestinian resistance forces after 308 consecutive days of genocidal war.
Since October last year, The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) has regularly invaded or pounded Khan Younis, giving reasons for its war crimes against civilians with statements of defeating what appears to be a well-coordinated armed resistance.
Two weeks ago, the IOF withdrew from the eastern half of the southern city, claiming to have eliminated remnants of Palestinian fighters.
The military invasion lasted around two weeks, yet it is now clear that the IOF retreated under fire.
On Thursday, the IOF told residents, who had just returned to the area, to leave again.
By Thursday night Israeli warplanes pounded the eastern section of Khan Younis with dozens of airstrikes before invading the area on Friday.
Palestinian officials and war monitors say the short evacuation notice means exhausted and starving civilians, once again, have been the target of U.S.-made Israeli bombs that continued to land on the city throughout Friday.
Reporters on the ground noted that snipers shot at people in the Abasan neighborhood, killing two, including a child, and injuring others.
Other neighborhoods in eastern Khan Younis have seen another wave of displacement towards the western areas of the city following threats by the IOF.
According to reporters stationed in the western half of the city, the IOF is conducting a widespread military assault in the east, as well as a town in the northeast of Khan Younis, while pointing out the intensity of the Israeli bombardment.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent, Hani Mahmoud, also reporting from Khan Younis, says what’s going on in the city “is basically a repeat of what happened two weeks ago, when the Israeli military took over major parts of the city’s east. Now they’re coming back again.
The military put out a statement justifying its return, saying there are more Hamas operatives in the area. But this is close to the same wording they use when justifying any incursion.”
“Eastern Khan Younis is becoming uninhabitable, turning gradually into a wasteland,” He added.
Military analysts say the IOF is hiding the number of its casualties and is only forced to make some revelations after the Palestinian resistance publishes footage of its operations.
The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, published its operations against the IOF on Thursday. It said it was in response to the Israeli assassination of the movement’s former Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
The footage clearly shows at least three Israeli tanks being blown up. In one case a Hamas fighter is seen running toward an Israeli tank, attaching an explosive device to it and running back before the tank explodes.
On Friday, the IOF admitted that an officer was injured during the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, an IOF spokesperson stated that a combat officer from the Nahal Brigade was severely wounded during a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian resistance In Gaza continues to confront the occupying forces on various battlefronts for more than 300 days, increasing IOF losses both in personnel and vehicles.
While the IOF keeps its losses secret and imposes strict censorship on Israeli media coverage, the statements and footage released by the resistance in Gaza allude to a much higher casualty rate than what is being officially announced.
This is while the Palestinian resistance is also documenting its operations that show injured Israeli soldiers.
Meanwhile, health officials have released data indicating that 70 percent of Palestinians killed and wounded by the IOF in the Strip have been children and women.
According to the Gaza health ministry, over 39,670 Palestinians have been killed and at least 91,720 have sustained injuries since the beginning of the U.S.-backed Israeli genocidal war on October 7, 2023.
A large number of victims also remain under the rubble and in the streets, with rescue and civil defense teams unable to reach them due to the accumulation of debris and the never-ending intensity of the bombardment.
As the genocide drags on, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has emphasized the need to allow the entry of vaccines and ensure the safety of health and humanitarian workers, stating that the discovery of polio in Gaza is extremely alarming and all efforts must be made to vaccinate children.
source: tehrantimes.com