2024-02-10 23:56:10
Israel faces fierce resistance in the “last battle” in Khan Yunis
Violent clashes continued in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, while attention turned to the city of Rafah, which the Israeli army is preparing to attack soon, raising widespread fears of large massacres in the city, which is home to between 1.3 and 1.4 million people.
Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the battles have been intense and fierce and have not stopped for days in the western Khan Yunis area. The Israeli army is trying to control this area in what is considered the last battle, amid expectations that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is holed up there.
The western Khan Yunis area includes the Khan Yunis camp, the Al-Amal neighborhood, and the Austrian neighborhood, and includes the Nasser Medical Complex and the Red Crescent Al-Amal Hospital.
The sources indicated that the area is considered one of the most important strongholds of the Hamas movement. She confirmed that battles often turn into direct face-to-face confrontations in the midst of rounds of hit and run.
Searching for victims or survivors following an Israeli raid on a residential building in Rafah on Saturday (AP)
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed on Saturday that a “commando” squad continued in western Khan Yunis to raid Hamas targets, killing militants and finding many weapons. Among them are Kalashnikov rifles, dozens of hand grenades, ammunition clips, RPG shells, vests, and explosive devices.
On the other hand, the “Al-Qassam Brigades” affiliated with “Hamas” said that it continues to target and kill occupation soldiers and destroy tanks and vehicles there.
The Israeli army has been fighting in Khan Yunis for more than 70 days in a complex mission aimed, in addition to “destroying the Hamas brigades” there, to reach the leaders of the October 7 attack, specifically the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, and his brother Muhammad. The commander of the “Khan Yunis Brigade,” the commander of the “Al-Qassam,” General Muhammad al-Deif, and his deputy, Marwan Issa.
Searching for victims among the rubble of a car bombed by Israel in Rafah on Saturday (Reuters)
Israeli officials leaked more than once that they are close to Sinwar, which it is believed that reaching it will give Israel the image of victory it is looking for in Gaza.
Israel plans to finish the battle west of Khan Yunis, before moving to the Rafah border.
Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold that Israeli forces have not entered, but it poses a major dilemma with mounting warnings of Israel committing massacres there. More than 1,200,000 displaced people live in Rafah, in addition to about 250,000 residents, in an area not exceeding 64 square kilometers.
If the Israeli army actually continues its attack towards the Rafah border, this will mean raising the level of tension with Egypt, which fears that the attack on Rafah may include control of the Philadelphia border axis and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, issues that Egypt has warned that it will not allow.
A distraught Palestinian woman in Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah after she identified the bodies of her relatives who were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday (AFP)
Egypt sent about 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai during the past two weeks, as part of a series of measures to enhance security on its border with the Gaza Strip.
The mechanisms were deployed in anticipation of Israel expanding its military operations to Rafah.
Despite global and Arab warnings about the dangers of the attack on Rafah, the official broadcaster, Kan, reported that Israel had informed a number of countries in the region and the United States that it was actually preparing for a military operation in the Rafah area, but it promised that it would not take place until specific conditions were met, namely evacuation. A broad plan for the population of Rafah and its environs, and an agreement between Israel and Egypt on specific Israeli military activity against the tunnels in the Philadelphia axis. According to Kan, the Israeli security service has begun preparing a plan to evacuate residents from Rafah and is studying two scenarios: The first is to evacuate citizens to Khan Yunis, north of Rafah, or to allow the return of a large number of Gazans to specific locations in northern Gaza.
A photo from Rafah of smoke rising from the battles in Khan Yunis on Saturday (AFP)
In small Rafah, the closest point to Egypt, there are four Hamas brigades led by one of Israel’s most wanted men, Muhammad Shabana. The “Rafah Brigades” constitute one of the five main brigades of the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” after the Northern Brigade, the Gaza Brigade, the Central Brigade, and the Khan Yunis Brigade, and all of Rafah Governorate falls under its responsibility, including the border area with Egypt.
Last January, Israel placed Shabana at the top of its most wanted leaders. He has been leading Rafah since 2014.
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