Previous bombing by Al-Quds Brigades with missiles on Ashkelon (Anatolia)

Palestinian resistance operations against the Israeli occupation forces continued, and varied between launching rockets and field clashes, while Israel threatened to continue the war on Gaza even in the holy month of Ramadan and expand it to the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the resistance launched a batch of missiles from the northern Gaza Strip towards the surrounding settlements.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said, "We bombed the city of Ashkelon and the Gaza Strip with missile attacks in response to the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our people."

Israeli media said that 8 rockets were launched from the Jabalia area in the northern Gaza Strip and landed in Ashkelon.

For its part, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that its fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli occupation forces penetrating the areas of the city of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza.

Al-Qassam confirmed the continued targeting of Israeli forces and their vehicles with “Al-Yassin 105” shells, “TBG” shells, and explosive devices.

Increasing numbers of dead and wounded among occupation soldiers (Anatolia)

Losses to the occupation

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation army announced on Friday morning that one of its soldiers was killed and another was seriously injured in battles in the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Israeli army announced the killing of a soldier and the injury of 12 soldiers in the battles in the Gaza Strip, including 3 whose condition was described as serious. Thus, the number of officers and soldiers whose deaths were announced by the occupation forces to 572 since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the war on Gaza on October 7 last, from Including 241 dead since the start of the ground operation on the 27th of the same month.

The occupation army said that its forces attacked several targets belonging to the Hamas movement throughout the Gaza Strip - including the movement’s operations headquarters - in addition to military buildings and rocket launching sites.

The army added - in a statement - that its forces eliminated what it called militants in Khan Yunis and in the central and southern Gaza Strip, including a group that was targeted by a drone, indicating that its forces are still operating in the northern Gaza Strip.

Benny Gantz threatened to continue the war on Gaza even during the holy month of Ramadan (Associated Press)

War in Ramadan

In a related development, the Minister in the Israeli Military Council, Benny Gantz, threatened on Friday to continue the war on Gaza even during the holy month of Ramadan and expand it to the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, if the Israeli detainees do not return from the Gaza Strip.

Gantz said in a recorded video message that he posted on the X platform, “We will not stop until the detainees are returned by all means. There will not be a ceasefire even for one day without their return.”

During the past few days, the occupation army carried out several raids on the city of Rafah, which it claimed was a safe area for the displaced, seeking to eliminate the Hamas movement and achieve any of the goals of the war that left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women.

Israel has repeatedly announced three goals for the war on Gaza, which are to overthrow Hamas’ rule in the Gaza Strip, eliminate its military capabilities, return Israeli prisoners from Gaza, and ensure the presence of an administration in Gaza that does not pose a threat to Israel, but it did not achieve any of these goals despite the war entering its fifth month.

In this context, Israeli Army Radio reported that the army withdrew the 646th Paratroopers Brigade from Khan Yunis.

The Israeli army had gradually withdrawn some of its forces during the recent period, withdrawing the 36th Division, which includes the Golani Brigade and brigades of armor, artillery, infantry, and other forces.

It also withdrew the Fifth Brigade from the Gaza Strip late last month, in addition to withdrawing the Fourth Reserve Brigade known as “Kiryati”. The Israeli army ended the mission of the “7107” Battalion of the “Nahel” Brigade, and also withdrew the “271” Battalion of the Combat Engineering Unit.

For its part, the Military Intelligence Division of the Israeli army confirmed that Israel will not be able to completely undermine Hamas, and that this goal is unrealistic in the foreseeable future.

The document - prepared by the research department of the division known as “Aman”, and its content revealed by the Israeli Channel 12 - concluded with a warning to the Israeli political level that Hamas has real support in the Gaza Strip despite the ground attack.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies