IDF Continues Taking the Fight to Hamas in Khan Yunis

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has continued pressing its attack on Hamas in the stronghold of Khan Yunis, making advances both above and below the ground in the southern Gaza town where the terrorist leaders are thought to be hiding, with hostages.

This is the Givati Brigade in action as they operated at the “Al-Qadsia” compound, 1 of the main bases where Hamas terrorists trained for October 7, with models simulating entrance gates of Israeli kibbutzim, military bases and IDF armored vehicles.

The base also contained the… pic.twitter.com/ifEq2JPSKj

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 4, 2024

במרכז הרצועה חולייה של חמישה מחבלים זוהתה באיזור בו פועלים לוחמי צוות הקרב של חטיבת הנח״ל. בפעילות משותפת של הכוחות הקרקעיים, מכלול האש החטיבתי, כלי טיס, כלי שיט וטנקים, חוסלו המחבלים תוך זמן קצר>> pic.twitter.com/c809YnIr7g

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 5, 2024

The Times of Israel reported:

Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinian terrorists in operations throughout the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, the Israel Defense Forces says.

In the central city of Khan Younis, which has been the site of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks, the army says tens of terrorists were killed in airstrikes and in close-quarters combat.

Israel had lost, as of Saturday evening, 225 soldiers since the invasion of Gaza began in late October, having lost more than 300 soldiers in repelling Hamas’s initial terror attack on October 7. The IDF estimates it has killed over 10,000 Hamas terrorists, who form a substantial part of the 27,000 or so Palestinian dead in the war, though Hamas figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The next, and likely final, target of the Israeli counteroffensive is likely the border down of Rafah, near Egypt, which Israel must control if it is to prevent future smuggling into the Gaza Strip, and to prevent Hamas from escaping with hostages.

Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise on Israel’s northern border, where Israel has stepped up its counterattack on Hezbollah, an Iranian terrorist proxy that has been firing rockets and anti-tank missiles into Israel since the start of the war in October.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.