Israel Presses Assault on Hamas s Last Major Gaza Bastion – WSJ

TEL AVIV Israeli forces closed in on southern Gaza s largest city in what is becoming one of the decisive battles of the two-month-old war with Hamas.

Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, is defending its last major bastion in Gaza, where Israel believes the group s leaders are hiding and holding hostages, after Israeli forces drove the militants and much of the population out of Gaza City in the enclave s north. Hamas fighters and Israeli troops were in close-quarters combat, both sides said.

Khan Younis, a city of 400,000 built along an ancient trade route, represents a treacherous battleground a Hamas stronghold home to its leader, Yahya Sinwar, and lined with narrow streets packed with displaced Palestinians. Fighting there would deepen an already urgent humanitarian crisis by pushing tens of thousands of people into Rafah near the Egyptian border, where families are already sleeping in tents and parks, and where food, water and cooking gas are scarce.

Israeli troops were fighting in the heart of Khan Younis, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, commanding officer of the Israeli military s Southern Command which is leading the fight against Hamas said Tuesday. He described the fighting across Gaza as the most intense since the start of Israel s ground operation.

An Israeli victory in Khan Younis would likely corner remaining Hamas fighters in small areas in central Gaza and close to the Egyptian border, surrounded by Israeli troops. And it could heighten already intense international pressure on Israel to end the war and seek a settlement that frees more than 100 hostages and ends Hamas s rule in Gaza.

If Hamas loses Khan Younis, they are done. They may have some enclaves there, but they will lose their centers of gravity, said Kobi Michael, a senior fellow at The Institute for National Security Studies, a security think tank in Tel Aviv.

via www.wsj.com