JERUSALEM: Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, destroying tunnels and other infrastructure as they sought to crack down on small militia units that launched mortar attacks on soldiers, the Israeli army said on Friday. they continued
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli forces launched their latest operation in Khan Yunis on Monday, as pressure mounted for a deal to end the fighting.
The report said seven small units firing mortars at the troops were hit in an airstrike, while in the south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in airstrikes.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad announced that it had fired rockets at the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel and other Israeli cities near Gaza. The Israeli Ambulance Service said no casualties were reported.
The continuation of the war, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza after the October 7 attack, has underscored the difficulty of the Israeli military in eliminating fighters who have returned to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.
A Telegram channel run by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons engaged in heavy fighting with Israeli forces east of Khan Yunis.
According to medics, at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks east of Khan Yunis.
American pressure
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.
However, there is no clear sign of progress in talks to end the fighting and return the approximately 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements by Israel and Hamas seem to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.
Local residents contacted via the messaging app said Israeli tanks attacked three towns east of Khan Yunis, Bani Suhaila, al-Zana and al-Kararah, blowing up several houses in some residential areas.
Air force jets hit about 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which missiles were fired at Beersheba in southern Israel, the military said.
Even as fighting continued around Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the area, Israeli tanks were pushed towards the outskirts of Tal al-Hawa, west of Gaza City, residents said.
A Hamas Telegram channel announced that fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.
According to doctors, two Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike in western Gaza.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza war, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Israeli officials estimate that around 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or captured, out of an estimated 25,000 at the start of the war.
