JERUSALEM: Israeli troops have been battling Palestinian fighters in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, destroying tunnels and other infrastructure as they try to neutralize a small terrorist unit that continues to fire mortars at soldiers, the army said Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its troops have killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since the Israeli military launched its latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continues amid increasing pressure to reach a deal to end the fighting.
Seven small units firing mortars at the troops were reportedly hit by airstrikes, while four fighter jets were also killed in the airstrikes in the southern city of Rafah.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said it had launched rocket attacks on the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli cities near Gaza, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths, the Israel Medical Service said.
The more than nine-month battle since Israel began its offensive against the Gaza Strip following the October 7 attack has underscored the difficulty the Israeli military faces in flushing out fighters who have turned guerrilla in the ruins of the coastal strip.
Telegram television, operated by the two main terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Gaza Strip, reported that the fighters were fighting fiercely with Israeli forces east of Khan Younis, using machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.
Doctors say at least six Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.
Pressure from the United States
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, have both called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a proposed ceasefire as soon as possible.
However, there has been no clear sign of progress in talks to end the fighting and bring home the approximately 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. Public statements by Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that the two sides remain deeply at odds.
Residents contacted via Messenger reported that Israeli tanks hit three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Sanna and Al-Kaaraa, and blew up several houses in some residential areas.
The military said air force planes hit about 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads used to launch rockets into Beersheba in southern Israel.
As fighting continued in the southern Khan Younis and Rafah areas of the autonomous region, residents said Israeli tanks had advanced into the western Gaza City suburb of Tel al-Hawa.
Hamas' Telegram channel reported that militants attacked an Israeli tank in the town of Tal al-Hawa, killing one Israeli soldier.
Two Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike in the western Gaza city, doctors said.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants.
Israeli officials estimate that around 14,000 fighters from terrorist groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or taken captive, out of a force estimated to have numbered more than 25,000 at the start of the war.
