The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says its fighters have confronted, and repelled, an “infiltrating force” of the Israeli military in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement the infiltration was carried out in the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Qassam said its fighters destroyed two infiltrating armored bulldozers and one tank in a border area inside Gaza and forced the Israeli troops to leave their vehicles and escape on foot into a military post behind the fence. The Brigades said its fighters returned to their posts safely following the border operation.
“Fighters engaged with the infiltrating force, destroying two bulldozers and a tank and forced (the enemy) to withdraw, before they returned safely to base,” the statement said.
The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed and three were injured during the confrontation, with local sources reporting hearing fierce armed clashes and explosions in the east of Khan Younis.
The Qassam Brigades statement comes amid speculations of an imminent ground invasion by the Israeli military of the Gaza Strip as the illegal entity’s brutal onslaught on the besieged area drags on for the 17th day.
The relentless bombardment of Gaza has so far claimed more than 5,000 lives and left three times as many injured.
US urges ‘delay’ in ground offensive
Several American officials were cited in a report by The New York Times on Monday that the administration of President Joe Biden had asked Israel to delay its invasion plan to allow time for the release of hostages and shipment of aid into Gaza.
“The Biden administration has advised Israel to delay a ground invasion of Gaza, hoping to buy time for hostage negotiations and to allow more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the sealed-off enclave.”
The report also cited American officials as saying that the Biden administration wanted more time to prepare for possible attacks on US interests in the region, which officials said are likely to intensify once Israel moves its forces fully into Gaza.
Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas-led resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise attack into the occupied territories in response to the Israeli regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli attacks on Gaza have targeted places of gathering, including hospitals, schools, mosques and churches, displacing more than one million in the densely-populated region, which is home to more than 2.3 million people.
Medical sources in Gaza announced on Monday the number of Palestinians killed in the besieged Strip raised to 5,087, including 2,055 children, 1,119 women and 217 elderly people, and over 15,270 wounded.
Israeli forces have committed 23 massacres in the past 24 hours, claiming the lives of 436 people, including 182 children, the majority of whom were from the south of the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip, which is one of the most densely-populated places in the world, is largely deprived of water, food and other basic supplies due to Israel’s 17-year-long blockade.
