IDF forces continue to fight inside Khan Yunis, a city that is the center of authority for Hamas, where the organization’s senior officials are located. Recently, the IDF has identified that the terrorist organization uses women in combat, in the roles of observers and, allegedly, also as terrorists who transport explosive devices from place to place. The army also recognizes that in the north of the Gaza Strip Hamas brigades and battalions are surrendering and that morale is low on the organization’s part.
The IDF’s activity in the southern city of Khan Yunis began as darkness fell – and in the morning the forces already controlled the area in a way that allowed them to carry out the operations in a significant sequence. The purpose of the fighting is to combine intelligence, maneuver and fire, and try to bring Khan’s defense system Yunes out.
The maneuver takes place in a dense area, against an enemy that has built engineering, military and underground arrays – and destroying them takes time. According to estimates, the terrorist organization is in the process of collapse and the IDF believes that it can be defeated, but currently the main task is the fight in Khan Yunis.
Hamas is trying to create new moves in combat and our forces must find a way to outsmart it – as they did at the beginning of the maneuver. The complexity of fighting in spaces within Khan Yunis – without reaching certain areas on purpose. These actions create an unclear line of contact within the built-up area and the enemy takes advantage of this. The IDF succeeds in blurring the line created – thus Hamas enters into planned traps.
The fighting brigade of Hamas in Khan Yunis is prepared and in high status. They didn’t estimate that the maneuver in the north would be so powerful, so they conducted more during the ceasefire. The forces in the field will reach wherever needed, there are targets for the war and there are targets that are added.
The IDF learned significant lessons from the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip – and in Khan Yunis, the 7th, 84th, 4th, 55th and 89th Brigade Combat Teams are maneuvering, each bringing their own capabilities as added value. The combination of intelligence, fire and logistics created the ability to act quickly and the enemy off balance, as well as to produce sequence and continuity of action without reaching a state of static.