Jerusalem, Feb 4 (EFE). – The Israeli army on Sunday raided and dismantled the headquarters of the Hamas Khan Yunis Brigade, which housed a training center and the offices of commander Mohamed Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Islamist group in the Gaza Strip, military sources said.
“The Givati Brigade Combat Team raided and destroyed the flagship position and training center used by the Khan Yunis Brigade. This is a very important complex in which many weapons were found,” said Liron Bitito, commander of the Israeli army’s Givati Brigade, which carried out the operation.
The compound, known as Al Qadsia, was the main base of this brigade, one of the most powerful of Hamas’ armed wings.
It was here that of the group allegedly planned and trained for the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, according to Israeli forces.
Since early December, Israeli troops have focused their offensive inside the enclave on Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold in the south, where they believe Yahya Sinwar is hiding.
“Upon entering the area, the forces found that the compound was booby-trapped by Hamas terrorists,” a military statement said.
The army said Hamas militiamen barricaded near the site opened fire on the soldiers and were “neutralized by snipers, tanks and the Israeli Air Force.”
Inside the compound, they found “extensive training areas” where they found models simulating the entrances to an Israeli kibbutz, military bases, and IDF armored vehicles.
“The soldiers also stormed the central war room of the Khan Yunis Brigade and the offices of its senior officers. The base contained rocket storage facilities and tunnel entrances leading to subway routes used by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the army stressed.
The army declared it found a weapons factory and an extensive arsenal, including anti-tank missiles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, explosives, grenades, and ammunition.
The Israeli army also reported Sunday that Paratroopers Brigade soldiers have intensified fighting in recent days in the Al Amal area in western Khan Younis, where Israel says Hamas militiamen are hiding, and have found weapons, tunnel entrances, observation posts, and weapons factories.
The area is home to the hospital of the same name, which has been under siege for nearly two weeks, and where the Palestinian Red Crescent, which runs the facility, has reported multiple attacks and the inability of ambulances to access it.
On Oct. 7, more than 3,000 Hamas militiamen launched an armed assault on dozens of communities in southern Israel, mostly kibbutzim, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 240.
The war declared by Israel against Hamas that same day has left more than 27,300 Gazans dead and more than 66,600 wounded in the Strip, according to medical sources under the control of the Islamist group. EFE
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