The IDF has penetrated to the heart of Khan Yunis, which is itself the heart of Hamas in southern Gaza.
It had achieved this penetration on Monday, but the announcement was only made on Tuesday.
The IDF took a variety of maneuvers to penetrate Khan Yunis.
Simultaneously, the IDF invaded Khan Yunis from the east, so that Hamas would need to fight on multiple fronts.
A massive force of multiple brigades, including from Division 162, were thrown into the onslaught to take over Hamas’s most crucial city in southern Gaza.
The air force accompanied the ground forces thrust into Khan Yunis with significant attacks to eliminate Hamas command and control capabilities.
IDF sent large force into Shejaia at the same time as Khan Yunis attack
At the same time as the attacks on Khan Yunis, the IDF sent a large and hard-hitting force, including Divisions 162 and 36, into Shejaia, known as Hamas’s greatest remaining stronghold in northern Gaza.
A senior IDF official said that the IDF had purposely waited to assassinate the head of Hamas’s Shejaia battalion until just before it was ready to invade in force in order to maximize the impact of the shock and disorganization on the Shejaia Hamas forces.
In Shejaia, the IDF hurled large infantry forces at Hamas along with massive air strikes and also succeeded in destroying significant positions and command centers.
In addition, the IDF also attacked parts of Jabalia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza which still had not been entirely cleared, though those areas were already more under IDF control than Shejaia, which the IDF had only started to attack recently.
The IDF also ramped up its attacks on Hamas in central Gaza, which had already started in recent days.
Several hundred Hamas terrorists were killed on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest for Hamas’s forces, and bringing the number of dead Hamas forces to around 6,000 with thousands wounded as well.
Based on these estimates, Hamas is assessed as having around 20,000 remaining potential fighters of its original 30,000.
The IDF has said less about the estimated 10,000 Islamic Jihad forces, though there have been many specific anecdotes of attacks against the terror group along with Hamas.
Based on the combined attacks, IDF Southern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkleman said, “we are in the heart of Jabalia, the heart of Shejaia, and as of last night, the heart of Khan Yunis. We are in the most intense day since the start of the invasion – in terms of the number of killed terrorists, the number of battles, and the volume of fire brought to bear by ground and air forces. We intend to continue to attack and to deepen our achievements.”
Civilians from Khan Yunis had been directed to evacuate further south to Rafah as well as to a safe area toward the west of Khan Yunis.
IDF closing in on Yahya Sinwar
IDF Chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Tuesday hinted that the IDF is closing in on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar as it has penetrated the heart of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
He said that the IDF has encircled southern Gaza and Khan Yunis, where multiple top officials have said Sinwar is hiding, though there is still no precise timeline for capturing or killing him.
Halevi stated, “we are attacking the center of gravity” of Hamas and that “we are asked frequently about the destruction in Gaza – Hamas is the address. [Yahya] Sinwar is the address.”
Further, the IDF chief said that Hamas has systematically abused civilian locations for terrorism, and yet the IDf is still trying hard to mitigate any harm to civilians.
In addition, he said, “whoever thinks that the IDF would not know how to renew the war, was mistaken, and Hamas is feeling that a lot.
The IDF chief flagged that a large number of senior Hamas officials have been killed just in recent days, on top of the dozen or so Hamas battalion commanders who have been killed during the two months of the war.
Also, Halevi said that Hezbollah is trying to hide how badly the IDF attacks on it have damaged its forces.
Meanwhile, the IDF has been planning to pump seawater into the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza for weeks, the Wall Street Journal has reported and the Jerusalem Post was told weeks ago.
Five large pumps have been assembled north of the al-Shati refugee camp during the last month, with each one capable of pumping thousands of cubic meters of seawater into the tunnels.
The Post had been told by top defense officials that this was one of a series of methods which the IDF hoped to use to destroy and neutralize Hamas’s vast tunnel network.
Israel informed US officials that they were considering this option last month and needed to weigh feasibility and environmental factors against military necessity.
Due to the nature and structure of the tunnels, it is unclear whether the method will be a cure-all for the tunnel threat, or will be useful, but will remain just one of a series of important tactics,
Some US officials expressed concern about the plan while others supported it.
The process could take weeks and therefore could allow Hamas’s fighters to evacuate, potentially taking the hostages with them. However, it isn’t clear whether Israel would wait until all hostages are returned.
One of the major concerns over this plan is the environmental impact of pumping seawater into the ground.
Sea water seeping into the soil is a major cause for concern as it can poison already semi-salinated aquifers deep in the ground as well as making the surface extremely unstable.
Fears are that seawater would salinate Gaza’s soil, making it extremely difficult to grow crops. There are also concerns that substances stored in the tunnels could also seep into the soil further contaminating the area.
Former US officials told the Wall Street Journal that the plan would perhaps bring global condemnation, but they conceded it might be one of the few ways to permanently disable the tunnels.
Egypt flooded Hamas tunnels with seawater in 2015, which led to complaints from farmers in Rafah that it had damaged their crops.
Militaries typically use dogs and robots to clear tunnels, however, the effectiveness of flooding the tunnels may prove too lucrative an option for the IDF, saving them time, money, and manpower.
Barrage at Tel Aviv
On the home front, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv and the surrounding Dan region, including Petah Tikva and Rishon LeZion on Tuesday afternoon, with a 40-year-old man being lightly injured from shrapnel, according to a Magen David Adom report.
Further damage caused by the shrapnel is being investigated.
Extensive damage to an apartment was also caused following a barrage of rockets in Ashkelon on Tuesday.
Two women in their 60s were injured by shrapnel and were evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center.
Hamas also fired rounds of rockets at Beersheba and other parts of the Gaza corridor, with no reports of injuries.
In the North, one Lebanese soldier was killed and three others wounded when Israeli shelling hit near a village in south Lebanon near the border with Israel, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
Also, IDF fighter jets struck launch positions, terrorist infrastructure, and military infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to the launches towards the territory of the State of Israel last night.
A launch was detected towards the Zerait area, and the IDF attacked the sources of the fire in Lebanese territory.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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