'Israel' says Khan Younis withdrawal to prepare for Rafah invasion
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Herzi Halevi, the IOF Chief of staff, claims that despite pulling out from Gaza, the battle against Hamas is far from done.
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Palestinians inspect the ruins of a residential building for the Abu Muammar family after an Israeli strike in Rafah on March 29, 2024. (AP)
According to "Israel's" Security Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli forces withdrew from Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday "to prepare for future missions, including... in Rafah."
Gallant claimed that Israeli troops were pulled out after months of violent warfare because "Hamas ceased to exist as a military framework" in Khan Younis.
Herzi Halevi, the IOF Chief of staff, said that despite pulling out from Gaza, the battle against Hamas is far from done.
He also said that if a truce is reached as part of a prisoner exchange deal, the IOF will be prepared to resume fighting and that returning the Israeli captives held by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza is a more pressing priority than other objectives.
In a press statement, Halevi argued that "Israel" was fighting the war "differently" and in a different matter than its "predecessors."
“The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping."
More Palestinians were martyred and injured in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday in a series of airstrikes by Israeli warplanes and artillery shelling. The attacks focused on the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip.
Earlier, Israeli occupation Benjamin Netanyahu said that "Israel" is "one step away from victory," after news broke out that almost all Israeli occupation forces combat units withdrew from Khan Younis.
In the same address, Netanyahu vowed that his government will not agree to a truce until the Palestinian Resistance releases all Israeli captives, most of whom are military personnel taken captive on October 7, 2023.
"We are one step away from victory," Netanyahu said. "But the price we paid is painful and heartbreaking."
Al-Qassam's ambush in Khan Younis a game-changer: Expert
The top-tier operation conducted by the Palestinian Resistance eastern Khan Younis forced the Israeli occupation's military command to take "new action," an expert in Palestinian Resistance affairs, Hani al-Dali told Al Mayadeen on Sunday.
Al-Dali referred to "the multistage operation of the Resistance in al-Zanna" on Saturday afternoon, which forced the Israeli occupation forces to withdraw from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip only a day after.
The expert said that the Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip proved, via the ambush it conducted against Israeli occupation forces, "Israel's" failure to abolish its capabilities and infrastructure.
In the ambush, al-Qassam Brigades fighters targeted three Israeli Merkava tanks with locally-produced tandem rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), dubbed al-Yassin, leading Israeli military rescue forces to deploy in the area. The force fell into a minefield prepared by al-Qassam forces which led to the instantaneous death of six soldiers, while others were injured as a result of the attack.
Later, al-Qassam Brigades' Military Media said that after the minefield was set off, the remaining occupation forces fortified themselves in a building, where they were targeted with an anti-personnel shell that killed at least three soldiers.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza reported Saturday that the Palestinian Resistance factions, especially al-Qassam Brigades are engaging in a "heroic saga" in the city of Khan Younis amid reports in Israeli media about a "tough incident".
