The Israeli army continues its advance on Khan Younis
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced this on Sunday almost fifty Hamas “terrorists” eliminated in several operations in the city of Khan Younis and other areas of the Gaza Strip.
You may be interested: The Israeli army released new images of the mission that rescued two Argentine hostages in Gaza
According to the Israel Defense Forces report, they managed to attack a number of infrastructures over the last day. Kill “approximately 20 terrorists” and seize “numerous” weapons in an operation in Khan Younis.
“The armed forces raided military buildings and They found weapons, including explosives and several RPG rockets It is intended to be used against our armed forces,” the IDF said in a message on its X account on the social network.
You may be interested in: Benjamin Netanyahu warned that there will be no agreement with Hamas until the terrorists change their ceasefire proposal
Israeli forces have also continued military operations around the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which has been under siege for several weeks.
In another operation The Israeli Air Force reported that it had eliminated “approximately 15 additional terrorists.”including six “that came from a terrorist infrastructure,” as well as a weapons cache, as well as the confiscation of “safes” and weapons that would belong to “a military structure” of Hamas.
You may be interested: The Israeli army said it had sent troops to the largest hospital in the southern Gaza Strip in search of Hamas terrorists
Likewise in the center of the Gaza Strip They killed “more than ten terrorists” in another operation on the last day.
Israel has arrested more than a hundred terrorists at Naser Hospital in Gaza (Europa Press)
For his part, during the diplomatic efforts to reach a peace agreement in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister stated: Benjamin Netanyahureiterated this Saturday Hamas's demands for the release of the hostages They are “hallucinatory”and in its determination that the Israeli army enter the town of Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, despite growing international pressure against this incursion.
“Hamas' demands are hallucinatory (…) and we cannot accept that. But if Hamas drops these hallucinatory demands, we can move on.”the president said in a televised speech.
The political leader of the Palestinian terrorist group, Ismael Haniyestressed hours earlier that he would not accept an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners unless the Israeli army stops its offensive and withdraws from Gaza, blaming Israel for the stagnation in talks between the two parties.
“The resistance will not accept anything that does not include the complete cessation of aggression, the withdrawal of the occupying army from the Gaza Strip,” as well as “the lifting of the oppressive siege and the provision of safe and adequate housing for those displaced and displaced” by the crimes of the Occupation,” Haniye said in a statement in which he also called for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
In his speech, Netanyahu reiterated one of his mantras from the beginning of the war: “The essence of our policy to release the hostages is strong military pressure and very tough negotiations. In this way we have freed 112 hostages and we will continue to do so until we release them all. “This negotiation forces us to take a step forward.”
Hamas terrorists reiterated that they will not release the hostages unless Israel withdraws from Gaza (EFE/Mohammed Saber)
Given increasing international pressure on the Israeli army not to launch a ground operation in Rafah, home to 1.4 million people, most of them displaced people in overcrowded conditions, Netanyahu said that abandoning such an operation would mean losing the war.
“Yesterday I spoke again with the President of the United States, Joe Biden. I speak to world leaders every day. I tell you with determination: Israel will fight until it achieves complete victory. Yes, of course this also includes the operation in Rafah, after civilians in combat zones have been allowed to move to safer areas. Anyone who wants to stop us from acting in Rafah is essentially telling us: “You will lose the war.” “I will not allow that,” he said.
In this sense, he argued that both Israel's military ability to invade this population and to evacuate its population was “very realistic.”
“There is a lot of space and a lot of space north of Rafah”said the Prime Minister.
Benjamin Netanyahu said again that Hamas' demands to release the hostages were “hallucinatory” (EFE/EPA/bir Sultan)
On the other hand, given the situation in which the Gaza Strip will remain after the war and the increasing voices calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, Netanyahu once again showed his rejection of this option. “We will not bow to international dictates on the question of a future agreement with the Palestinians (…) The agreement is reached only through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions. “Israel, under my leadership, will continue to strongly oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” he said.
For Netanyahu, recognizing a Palestinian state after the October 7 Hamas attack that left 1,200 people dead would be the “biggest reward for terror, which is unprecedented and will prevent any future peace agreement.”
“The diplomatic campaign that I led with my colleagues allowed us to operate with complete military freedom of action for five months, which was not the case in Israel's past wars,” the prime minister said.
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)