Israeli troops reach heart of Khan Younis

Israeli tanks have reached the heart of Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, as Hamas issued fresh demands for Palestinian prisoners to be released while at the same time threatening the lives of the hostages they continue to hold.

Residents of Khan Younis said tanks had reached the main north-south road through the city on Sunday after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east. Warplanes were reported to be pounding the area west of the assault.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered, calling it the beginning of the end for the organisation. The Palestinian militant group denied this, calling the claim “false and baseless”.

In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said that none of the hostages that were still being held would leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases by Israel were met. In a televised statement, a Hamas spokesperson said the movement was “ready to release all soldiers in exchange for all our prisoners”.

The most recent conflict began after Hamas carried out the most deadly attack ever on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Israel responded with a relentless military offensive that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed almost 18,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. About 49,500 people have been injured.

An Israeli analysis suggested civilians constituted 61 percent of the dead from airstrikes earlier in the campaign.After weeks of fighting that was concentrated in the north, Israel launched its ground offensive in the south last week, storming Khan Younis. According to a report on Israel’s Channel 13, Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a phone call over the weekend that the operation in Khan Younis would take between three and four weeks to complete.

(The Guardian)

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