IDF: More than 100 terror operatives killed in Khan Younis since start of new operation

More than 100 terror operatives have been killed by troops with the 98th Division during a new operation in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says.

The offensive in Khan Younis was launched on Monday, after the IDF said it identified Hamas terrorists regrouping there, three months after the IDF withdrew from the city in southern Gaza. The offensive was also aimed at enabling Wednesday’s operation to recover the bodies of five slain hostages.

The IDF says that Israeli Air Force drones directed by the 98th Division also struck seven mortar-launching cells in Khan Younis in the past day.

Further south, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division killed numerous terror operatives as well as located tunnels and weaponry, including long-range rocket launchers.

Also in Rafah, the military says an IAF drone strike killed two gunmen spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit. A short while later, another terror operative was spotted trying to take a gun from one of the dead gunmen. The IDF says a second strike killed the additional operative along with another gunman.

Meanwhile, IAF fighter jets, combat helicopters, and drones struck some 45 targets across Gaza over the past day, the military says.

The targets included cells of gunmen, tunnel shafts, buildings used by terror groups, and other infrastructure, including rocket launchers previously used to attack the southern city of Beersheba.