As we brought you last night, Israel’s ground operation is expected to “expand to additional areas” of Gaza, according to the country’s defence minister.
Much of the fighting in recent weeks has been concentrated to Khan Younis to the south, while Jabalia and the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City have also seen intense IDF operations further to the north of the enclave.
Beit Hanoun to the far north and Rafah to the far south have also seen heavy airstrikes in recent days.
For some geographical context, these maps show southern and northern Gaza…
In a statement seen by The Times of Israel, Yoav Gallant’s office said “the ground operation will expand to additional areas”.
He did not outline which areas the IDF would be turning to, but we’ll bring you the latest as we get it.
However, it appears there will be no let up in Khan Younis by Israeli forces.
The southern Gazan city has “become the new capital of terror”, the statement said.
“We will not let up in our action there until we get to the senior Hamas officials,” it read.
The statement could be referring to Yahya Sinwar – Hamas’s leader in Gaza – who is rumoured to be hiding out in Khan Younis, which is the town of his birth.
Troops are said to be “closing in” on Sinwar, who is a proscribed terrorist, with reports the IDF have twice in recent days reached tunnels in Gaza where they believe he was hiding just before they arrived – although there are also rumours the leader is hiding in tunnels in the north of the enclave.