While Israel continues to dilly-dally on a ceasefire deal by prolonging the discussions in Qatar and continues its attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian resistance has also stepped up its actions, especially after gunning down Israeli soldiers earlier this week. Palestinian resistance attacks on Israeli forces have been on the rise and are backed by Yemen’s missile strikes.
According to Palestinian resistance sources, attacks on Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip are on the rise.
In light of the Palestinian resistance’s new series of attacks on Israeli forces in Khan Younis on Saturday, July 12th, battles have intensified.
Earlier on Saturday, at least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in three separate clashes in the Gaza Strip, including a soldier wounded in Zaytoun, east of Gaza City, by resistance bullets.
The resistance reports that face-to-face battles continue in southeastern Khan Younis until late at night on Saturday. Israeli state media sources report that the Palestinian resistance there detonated booby-trapped buildings and emerged from tunnels to launch intense attacks on Israeli forces.
“From Al-Khalil to Jenin, the fedayeen continue their heroic operations against the occupation forces and herds of settlers in response to the aggression against Al-Aqsa and the escalation of the crimes of the enemy army and its settlers, which have turned the lives of Palestinians into an unbearable hell,” Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said on Thursday, July 10th.
“We call on our heroic youth to escalate resistance actions in all areas of the West Bank and Al-Quds, and to rise up against the aggressors to deter them from persisting in their crimes and from proceeding with the plan to annex the West Bank, before what remains of Palestine is lost from the hands of our people,” Mr Obeida added.
His message came on a day when the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, claimed they struck a gathering of Israeli soldiers and vehicles with a barrage of heavy and medium calibre mortar shells in the “Al-Badou” area, north of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip.
The Al-Qassam Brigades released a video showing the operation, which is a part of its “Stones of David” operations series.
The aforementioned video, available on the East Post’s Telegram channel, shows the raid on Israeli soldiers and vehicles gathering, targeting two vehicles and two military bulldozers, and an attempt to capture one of the soldiers in the Abasan Al-Kabira area east of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing, Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, also claimed on Thursday that they shelled a gathering of Israeli vehicles and soldiers in the vicinity of Al-Arnab Street near the Al-Katiba area, west of Khan Younis, with regular 60mm mortar shells.
Late at night on Thursday, Palestinian resistance attacks took place targeting Israeli forces in the east of Khan Younis. Locals reported spotting military helicopters evacuating the wounded soldiers.
The evacuation exercise faced heavy firing from Palestinian guerrillas, and Israel had to use aerial forces to bomb the surroundings to carry out the rescue mission.
While the Palestinian resistance launched attacks on Israeli forces in the east of Khan Younis, a building housing numerous Israeli soldiers was detonated and collapsed on top of them, the resistance fighters claimed.
Al-Qassam Brigades also claimed that they had targeted a “Merkava” tank with a pre-positioned ground explosive on Thursday, in the slaughterhouse area southwest of the city of Khan Younis.
Later, on late Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted that one of their soldiers was killed in the Palestinian resistance attacks. The Israeli forces suffered setbacks in the skirmishes.
Meanwhile, on late Thursday night, the Israeli government ordered settlers to enter the bomb shelters as Yemen’s Armed Forces launched missile attacks targeting the occupied territories.
On Friday, the Palestinian resistance launched attacks on Israeli forces in “Bellinson” in the capital, Tel Aviv.
A helicopter was sighted landing there to evacuate the injured.
At the same time, Saraya Al-Quds fighters released a video of them sniping an Israeli soldier on the top of Jabal Al-Surani, east of Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City as part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military resistance wing, Saraya Al-Quds, also claimed to have shelled the command centre of the Israelis on the top of Jabal Al-Surani using indigenous rockets.
On Saturday, July 12th, the IDF acknowledged that a tank commander of the “Golani Brigades” suffered critical injuries after Palestinian resistance launched attacks on Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip on the same day.
Saraya Al-Quds fighters shelled IDF troops stationed close to the Halima Mosque, south of Khan Younis City in Gaza, using 60mm shells.
The military wing also claimed that the Palestinian resistance launched attacks on Israeli forces and vehicles infiltrating the Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area north of Khan Younis City on Saturday, using 60mm mortar shells. No confirmation on damages and casualties has been provided by the IDF.
Additionally, the Saraya Al-Quds claimed on Saturday, “We destroyed a zionist military vehicle by detonating a previously planted barrel explosive device in the Sheikh Nasser area, east of Khan Younis city.”
“We shelled zionist enemy concentrations on Jabal Al-Surani, east of Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, with regular mortar shells (60 calibre),” the organisation highlighted.
“Our fighters, this morning, were able to destroy a zionist military vehicle of the ‘Merkava’ type by detonating a previously planted anti-armour explosive device during its incursion east of Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City,” the Saraya Al-Quds added.
According to the latest reports, the Palestinian resistance has launched new attacks on Israeli forces in the Khan Younis area late Saturday night.
With Israel intensifying bombing across Gaza, especially targeting the displaced people’s tents housing children and women, killing on an average around 100 unarmed civilians everyday, including those rushing to aid centres and community kitchens for food, the Palestinian resistance forces, across the political spectrum, appears to be under immense pressure to retaliate and strike back at the Israelis.
While Hamas, backed by all Palestinian factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), except Fatah, is carrying forward the crucial ceasefire talks with a reluctant Israel to bring aid in the besieged Strip and to ensure that the civilians aren’t targeted, the worsening situation on the ground also compels it to intensify attacks on Israeli forces.
The PLO factions involved in the battle for Gaza know that they can only force Israel to accept their ceasefire framework and deal when it suffers the heat as well, due to mounting body counts.
Despite the battles, Hamas has refused to leave the ceasefire talks, even though Israel remains non-committal. It remains to be seen whether the ongoing Palestinian resistance attacks on Israeli forces will help to reach a ceasefire faster, as Israel is prone to face civilian unrest in case of rising body bags.
East Post is an independent geopolitical analysis portal covering South Asia and global power dynamics for international audiences. Views expressed are analytical and do not constitute endorsement of any state or non-state actor.
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