E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

A city of booby traps, tunnels: ToI in Khan Younis hours after bodies of 2 hostages retrieved
[IsraelTimes] Troops advance slowly in southern Gaza city, day after bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein were recovered and brought home for burial

After recovering the bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein in Khan Younis on Wednesday night, Israeli forces continued to push deeper into the city in the southern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 Strip, intensifying operations aimed at reaching its center.

Now entering its 20th month, the war has left Khan Younis in ruins — a shattered landscape almost unrecognizable from what it once was. The Israel Defense Forces last operated deep in Khan Younis with ground troops in April 2024.

The devastation served as a stark reminder of the toll exacted by Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
’s brutal October 7, 2023, invasion, during which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Despite the widespread destruction already inflicted across the Strip, military officials told news hounds during a Thursday tour of Khan Younis that there is still a long road ahead to reach full operational success.

Commander of the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion, Lt. Col. Yud — identified only by his first Hebrew initial due to security concerns — reaffirmed the war’s primary goals: the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas. These objectives, he said, are what justify the IDF’s continued presence in Gaza.

"That’s all that interests us," he said.

The Kfir Brigade has been operating in southern Khan Younis for the past three weeks, working in close coordination with the Israeli Air Force, combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit, and other forces. Their mission: to reach the city’s center and establish operational control.

Progress, however, has been slow and grueling. The city is laced with terror infrastructure, including a sprawling tunnel network and buildings rigged with explosives, military officials said. Every step forward requires methodical clearing, turning each advance into a battle not only against Hamas button men, but against the terrain itself.

In one case, military officials spoke of a residential building flagged by troops as suspicious in recent days due to a surveillance camera at the entrance, a bolted door, and telltale signs of guerrilla tactics — including a hole in the wall designed to allow a gunman to fire from within.

Upon inspection, the structure was found to be booby-trapped and was subsequently demolished by Israeli forces.

Traces of terror activity remain scattered among the ruins. In the rubble of one demolished home, several unused rockets lay in a heap — a grim monument to the arsenal hidden in plain sight and the constant threat posed to Israeli communities just across the border.

Despite the intensity of the fighting, Yud said morale among his troops remains high.

"We can see the kibbutzim across the border — we know well why we’re here," he said, referring to nearby communities like Nir Yitzhak and Sufa, where some residents have already returned after being evacuated in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Also, just across the border lies Nir Oz, the kibbutz from which Haggai and Weinstein were kidnapped that fateful morning.

Yud said the recovery of their bodies the night before added "more drive to keep on fighting," amid his unit’s third week of operations in the Strip.

The extended deployments in Gaza are not without strain. Troops typically serve two weeks inside Gaza, followed by four days out — a rotation that offers brief relief but continues to weigh heavily on soldiers and their families.

In most standing army units, including the Shimshon Battalion, phones are not allowed inside the Strip, limiting communication to a single weekly call, typically on Fridays before Shabbat. To maintain a semblance of connection, certain commanders run shared WhatsApp groups with families, offering sparse but critical updates — a digital lifeline for those waiting anxiously for their loved ones at home.

The duration of the IDF’s presence in Gaza remains uncertain. Last Sunday, the military announced plans to establish control over 75% of the territory within two months — a move that signals the intention to maintain a long-term presence aimed at dismantling Hamas’s capabilities.

"I know that there are still hostages, I know well what [Hamas] did on October 7 — therefore we don’t know how much longer we’ll stay [in Gaza]," Yud added.

Posted by: trailing wife 2025-06-06
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=764350