Search for hostages continues
Israel: Killed more than 100 terrorists in Khan Yunis
January 24, 2024, 8:24 a.m
The Israeli military’s offensive in the Gaza Strip is progressing slowly. There are hardly any success reports, such as those about freed hostages. However, the armed forces are now reporting the killing of more than 100 terrorists.
Israel’s army says it has killed dozens more terrorists in its advance in the Khan Yunis area in the south of the Gaza Strip. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the evening that more than 100 terrorists were “eliminated” in the west of the city on Tuesday. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli army said it had surrounded the heavily contested city, which it calls a stronghold of the Islamist Hamas, the day before. The armed forces attacked military positions and “terrorist infrastructure” and had destroyed a one-and-a-half kilometer long tunnel network and a rocket building facility in recent days, it said.
Israel suspects that the Hamas leadership and Israeli hostages are in the tunnel network in the area. On Monday, the army announced an expansion of its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip. According to eyewitnesses, there were recently fierce fighting between members of Hamas and Israeli soldiers in the west of Khan Yunis. Fighting continued across the Gaza Strip, army spokesman Hagari said. This is also the case in the north and in the center of the sealed-off coastal area. They continue to work around the clock to create the conditions for the return of the hostages, he said.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in southern Israel on October 7th. They murdered 1,200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 25,000 people have been killed so far. The number can hardly be verified independently.