Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari points at what he says is a guard roster in a room the military suspects was used by Hamas to hold hostages in the basement of Rantissi Hospital
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s military said on Monday it will keep pressure on the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, which for weeks has been the focus of Israel’s offensive, and said it has killed more than 2,000 Palestinian militants there.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military’s spokesperson, said Israeli forces have so far dismantled two of four Hamas battalions around the densely populated city, which operated above ground and from within dozens of kilometers of underground tunnels.
“We are continuing the attack in the area of Khan Younis. We have more operational missions to dismantle the military frameworks of the rest of the Hamas battalions,” Hagari told reporters.
“In all of Khan Younis we have eliminated more than 2,000 terrorists above and beneath the ground. In addition, we destroyed significant underground infrastructure, in which we found facilities for holding hostages, command centers, weapons, production facilities and intelligence materials.”
Reuters could not verify any of the figures he provided.
Hagari said that in the past week more than 300 suspected militants there were detained and taken for questioning.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
