On January 13, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, released video footage of recent clashes with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The video shows Hamas fighters targeting several Israeli Merkava main battle tanks, a Namer armored personnel carrier and a Puma engineering vehicle with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices from point blank. It also includes footage of clashes with Israeli troops.

Another video released by the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, shows a recent mortar attack on IDF gatherings in Khan Younis which was carried out in cooperation with the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

The IDF announced the death of a soldier from the Yiftah Brigade’s 5037th Battalion on January 13, and another from the Combat Engineering Corps’ 603rd Battalion on January 14. Their death brought the toll of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in Gaza to 188.

In addition to the two deaths, at least 15 Israeli troops were wounded in the last 24 hours, according to the IDF. The total number of those wounded during ground operations is around 1,000, some of whom remain in a life-threatening condition.

In recent weeks, the IDF withdrew from several parts of northern Gaza and shifted focus to the central and southern parts of the Strip. The heaviest clashes are currently taking place in Khan Yunis and the nearby town of Khuza in the south as well as in the al-Buraij and Nuseirat refugee camps in the center.

Israel is reportedly planning to further expand its ground operations in southern Gaza with the main target being the area of Philadelphia which covers Gaza’s border with Egypt and includes the Rafah crossing.

Source @South Front