Israeli troops stand in the center of Hamas stronghold
Khan Junis is considered the second largest city in the Gaza Strip. A few days after the resumption of fighting, Israeli troops are said to be in the center of the city. The army reports fierce fighting in several theaters of war.
The Israeli armed forces are penetrating deeper and deeper into the Gaza Strip during their ground offensive - including into the south, announced the commander of the Southern Command of the Israeli armed forces, General Jaron Finkelman. "We are in the center of Jabalia, in the center of Shujaiya and now also in the center of Khan Yunis." The Israeli troops are involved in the heaviest fighting since the beginning of their invasion of the Gaza Strip, said Finkelman. "It's the most intense day since the ground offensive began."
The Israeli military had previously dropped leaflets over Khan Yunis, warning residents of an imminent attack. "In the coming hours, the Israel Defense Forces will begin an intensive attack on your residential area in order to destroy the Hamas terrorist organization," said the letters, which were addressed to residents of six eastern and northern districts of the city. "For your safety, stay in the shelters and hospitals where you are. Do not go outside. Going out is dangerous. You have been warned."
The affected neighborhoods make up about a quarter of Khan Yunis. The city is located in the south of the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli military is now increasingly attacking after it had largely taken control of the northern part of the coastal area. Following Israeli appeals, hundreds of thousands of people fled to the southern Gaza Strip in order to supposedly reach safety.
Hardly any security in the southern Gaza Strip
Palestinian refugees report how they have set off for the second, some for the third or fourth time in search of protection that may not be available anywhere at the end of the day. After all, a coastal strip just 40 kilometers long that has been tunneled under by one of the warring parties cannot offer any real security anywhere as long as the fighting continues.
"Nevertheless, a distinction is made between sectors where the security risk is supposed to be relatively higher or lower," Stephan Stetter, Middle East expert from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich, told ntv.de.
A QR code can be found on the leaflets distributed, which redirects to a website in Arabic. There, the entire area of the Gaza Strip is visually divided into more than 620 sectors. However, the cell phone network in the Gaza Strip does not always work, so the site is not always accessible to everyone.
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The ongoing Israel war has led to intense fighting in Khan Yunis, a city in the Gaza Strip that's often considered a Hamas stronghold. According to Israel's Southern Command commander, General Jaron Finkelman, troops are now in the center of Khan Yunis, following a warning to residents about an impending attack.
As the Israeli military continues its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, the city of Khan Yunis has become a major battlefield, with Hamas and Israeli forces engaged in numerous wars and conflicts in this strategic location.
Source: www.ntv.de
