Gaza: Fighting in Khan Younis intensifies after new evacuation order

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reinforced its offensive on the central Gaza Strip. Through the night from Monday to Tuesday, the IDF shelled Hamas positions in the city of Khan Yunis. These attacks continued throughout the following morning with new air strikes in support of ground infantry operations.

The Israeli operation comes after Palestinian armed groups launched a salvo of 20 rockets from the central Gaza Strip against towns in the south of Israel. The main targets of the Israeli strikes were a weapons depot, an apartment used by armed groups and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.

Prior to the Israeli response, residents of the Gaza Strip received a new evacuation order to take shelter in areas Israel considers safe. According to Israeli forces, the vast majority of Gaza's population is now in these refugee areas. This would be about 1.9 million people out of the 2.3 million who populate the strip. The rest are divided between northern Gaza and Rafah.

Throughout the fighting, two IDF soldiers were killed in action, Israeli military sources reported. They are Reserve Master Sergeant Nadav Elchanan Knoller, 30, a non-commissioned officer in the 121st Battalion of the 8th Armored Reserve Brigade in Jerusalem, and Reserve Major Eyal Avnion, 25, a deputy company commander in the 121st Battalion of the 8th Armored Reserve Brigade in Hod Hasharon.

Along with them, two other IDF soldiers were seriously wounded, one of them in the same incident as Knoller and Avnion.

Israel's military leadership in favor of truce

A latest report from The New York Times asserts that Israel's military leadership would favor a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, even if it means Hamas staying in power.

The report cites six high-ranking sources in the IDF, some currently holding senior positions in the Israeli Defense Ministry. They claim to believe that a permanent ceasefire would be the best way to free the remaining hostages. They add that the IDF needs to reorganize before a possible war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. An end to the fighting in the south would also be necessary to de-escalate tension with Hezbollah in the north.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 116 Israeli hostages remain at the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. Of these hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attacks, at least 42 have reportedly died according to Israeli intelligence.

This report from military sources clashes head-on with the declared intentions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, who assured repeatedly weeks ago that, truce or no truce, Israel's objective is to destroy the Hamas terrorist group and save the hostages.