Israel Presses Hamas in Rafah, Orders Evacuation of Northern Khan Yunis Neighborhood

Jerusalem, 11 August, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel pressed its offensive against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah over the weekend and ordered the evacuation of several Khan Yunis neighborhoods, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday morning.

In Rafah, soldiers struck a terror squad spotted exiting a building, eliminating them. In another incident, ground forces working in cooperation with the Air Force struck a structure that another terror squad was seen entering. The squad was eliminated in an airstrike.

Also in the Rafah area, troops struck a location from which Hamas had launched projectiles at Kibbutz Kissufim and a structure used by the terror group’s rocket unit.

During the past day, the Air Force struck approximately 30 Hamas targets across Gaza, including an anti-tank missile launch post, weapons storage facilities and other structures.

Meanwhile, the Air Force dropped flyers on the northern Khan Yunis neighborhood of Aljalaa ordering residents to evacuate, saying rocket fire and other terror activities in the area had made Aljalaa too dangerous. The flyer included a map with instructions on where civilians could evacuate. The calls for the temporary evacuation were also sent by SMS messages, recorded voice messages, phone calls and media broadcasts.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 111 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.