About 100 armed fighters from the Palestinian militant organization Hamas have been killed since the start of the latest Israeli operation in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said on Friday.
The offensive began on Monday after Israeli intelligence indicated Hamas militants had regrouped in the city.
The operation was also aimed at recovering the bodies of five Israeli hostages. The information could not be independently verified.
However, there were also numerous civilian casualties from airstrikes and tank fire, according to the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by militants from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7 last year.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, says around 39,000 people have been killed in the densely populated coastal strip since the start of the war.
