1. Summary: Israel has been conducting a massive ground incursion into the Southern part of the Gaza Strip. As part of the incursion, Israeli tanks have taken over Al-Qararah, a village located just 3.5 miles northern to Khan Younis city, the Governorate’s main town. The Israelis have also been carrying out aerial and artillery bombings because reports are circulating that Hamas militants are reported to be hiding among civilians. This has caused another wave of refugees with almost half a million departing Khan Younis to the Southern city of Rafah, which is located at the border with Egypt.
2. Since the late hours of December 1st, 2023 when the ceasefire fell apart, Israel has been conducting a massive military offense in the Southern half of Gaza against the Palestinian terror group Hamas. JaFaJ has learned through American and Israeli military intelligence sources that the offense has been focused on the Eastern part of the Khan Younis Governorate, South of Gaza. An American military intelligence source has confirmed with JaFaJ that “Hamas fighters have used the tunnels to flee the Northern part of Gaza to the South as Israel keeps sweeping and destroying the tunnels in the Northern region”.
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The Battel for Khan Younis
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3. JaFaJ sources in Gaza have confirmed that Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have broken their way through Al-Qararah, a village in the Northern section of the Khan Younis Governorate, less than 3.5 miles away from Khan Younis city, the Governorate’s main town. A Gazan source said the following, “With the Israelis taking over Al-Qararah, it means that it’s just a matter of time before they take over Khan Younis.” [COMMENT: Al-Qararah is connected to Khan Younis City with the Salah Al-Dean Highway, which makes the Israelis’ mission easier than their very torturous progress in the densely populated Northern Gaza: END COMMENT].
4. JaFaJ’s Gazan source has reported that Israeli troops and tanks have been stationed at the Al-Tawaheen, “Windmills” region in Al-Qararh, a landmark for having Gaza’s largest wheat mills. At the same time, Hamas resistance was limited when compared to the Northern part of Gaza. Reports of Hamas’s militants using improved explosive devices [IEDs] and rocket launchers that have been effective at targeting Israeli troops. Nonetheless, the Israelis sustain their ability to advance and mobilize their troops across most parts of the Gaza Strip, and the number of Israeli casualties remains very low compared to the size of the operations.
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A Staggering Human Cost
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5. Since launching its offense on Southern Gaza, Israel has strategically been bombing several blocks in and around Khan Younis. This has proven to be highly effective in covering Israel’s troops as they advance into their designated zones. Nonetheless, it has come at a hefty cost to innocent lives. According to an American source, “It is easy to blame Israel, but the truth of the matter is that Hamas is hiding amongst the public, using them as both shields and cover to escape.” The source added, “The Israelis have provided an abundance of evidence to us that Hamas uses the public as cover (shields) and that they have switched to wearing civilian clothes.” The source continued by saying that “Israel has no other way of operating, either they give the terrorists a pass or it chases them where they hide, and sadly, this means many innocent people will die. The best advice we can give to the Israelis is to make sure their bombings are as surgical as possible to avoid civilian casualties”.
6. An American military source opined, “We are not giving Israel a carte blanch for a wholesale slaughter, but what can they do? There are 40,000 Hamas fighters and at least another 30,000 Hamas operatives purposely hiding behind civilians.” The source continued by saying, “This is a very complicated situation, and we do not have an answer to this. For now, we know the terrorists must be eliminated.” He added, “We cannot rule out mistakes, there have been certain incidents in which we still have questions on whether Israel did the right thing by causing so many casualties, but we are still jointly looking into those along with the Israelis”.
7. Sources in Gaza have confirmed that, “Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Khan Younis, and that most of them have been buried under rubble.” According to one medical source, “We cannot cope with the number of people injured, our medical facilities were never designed to handle this many people.” The source continued by saying, “Many of our emergency doctors have not slept in days, and first responders cannot cope with the deluge.” The source added, “This is a disaster and Israel must help us by providing medical assistance to the civilians.” The source continued by saying that, this cannot go on because the world will blame Israel.” The source concluded by saying, “Let’s cooperate with the Israeli army to provide medical assistance to the people, we are not Hamas”.
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The Refugee Crisis
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8. Southern Gaza was already burdened with 1.6 million Gazan refugees who fled the fighting in Northern Gaza and Gaza City. Makeshift tents can be seen all over and around Khan Younis, at schools and public facilities, housing families with no access to clean water or sanitation. The already dreadful conditions of Gazan refugees worsened over the past few days, as tens of thousands of residents fled different regions in Khan Younis governorate itself and the refugees began moving to Rafah city in the very southern tip of the Gaza strip right at the borders with Egypt. An estimated 450,000 refugees have relocated to Rafah since the 2nd of December 2023 amid growing fear that this might be another “Nakba,” in reference to the exodus of Palestinian Arab refugees from their homes in Israel in 1948.
9. Despite efforts by the United Nations and other international bodies, delivery of aid goods has been limited and the scarcity of food, medicine, blankets, and tents has been evident. Meanwhile, refugees are reporting Hamas operatives to be selling some of the aid material which is labelled “free” at unaffordable prices to the needy refugees.