This December 10 IDF release shows Israeli ground forces conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. Xinhua News Agency.
JERUSALEM, 11 Dec (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army stepped up its offensive in the Gaza Strip on 10 December, with Israeli tanks attacking the center of Khan Younis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel claimed that dozens of Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) fighters had surrendered, but Hamas denied this.
In addition, tensions remain on Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria.
The Israeli army encountered fierce resistance.
According to the Palestinian **10**, Israeli warplanes carried out heavy bombardment of a number of targets in the northern Gaza Strip on the same day, and fierce clashes broke out between Israeli ground forces and Palestinian militants in Khan Younis, Deir el-Ballah and other places in the southern Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for the health department of the Gaza Strip said on the 10th that nearly 300 Palestinians had died and more than 550 were injured in the past 24 hours.
The Israeli military issued a report on the battle situation on the night of the 10th, saying that Israeli warplanes, with the support of intelligence services, blew up and killed Imad Karika, the new senior commander of the Hamas Shajjayeh Brigade. Karika's predecessor, Wissam Ferhat, was killed by Israeli forces in early December.
This December 10 IDF release shows Israeli ground forces conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. Xinhua News Agency.
According to the Associated Press, some Khan Younis residents said that after all-night fighting, Israeli tanks drove into a main road running north and south of the city under the cover of warplane bombardment. Israeli forces surrounded Khan Younis a few days ago, and some ground troops entered the city center.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a televised speech on the 10th, saying that dozens of Hamas fighters surrendered, "This is the beginning of the end of Hamas." He called on more Hamas members to let go.
Some Israeli social media accounts claim that more than 100 Hamas fighters have surrendered in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. However, Qatar's Al Jazeera found many inconsistencies in these ** and questioned whether the man in ** voluntarily surrendered.
Hamas has denied that any members have surrendered to Israel, calling such claims "baseless and false news". The Qassam Brigades, an armed wing affiliated with Hamas, said in a statement that Hamas would continue to fight Israeli forces in "every neighborhood" in the Gaza Strip.
People hold lighted candles at a rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 7. On that day, the traditional Jewish festival of Hanukkah arrived. Two months into the current round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, people light candles on this special Hanukkah in anticipation of the early return of those detained in the Gaza Strip. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Junqing.
Israel alleges that the remains of 117 detainees and 20 killed remain in the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions. In a statement on the 10th, the Qasan Brigade said that if Israel wants to free the detainees, it can only do so through negotiations.
Tensions have reached neighbouring countries.
On the 10th, northern Israel was attacked by rockets and drones by Lebanese Allah and Hamas militants in Lebanon, injuring six Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army, for its part, retaliated with air strikes and artillery strikes on targets in southern Lebanon.
This photo taken on November 23 from the Israeli side of the Lebanese-Israeli border shows smoke rising from an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ayar Margolin, Gini ** Agency).
UNIFIL, which is stationed in southern Lebanon, said that one of its watchtowers was hit by artillery fire on the afternoon of the 9th, and that there were no personnel** and that the artillery fire was still being investigated**. However, Israel has identified that Lebanese Allah fired a number of rockets at Israeli forces on the evening of the 9th, one of which was located near a United Nations facility in southern Lebanon.
Since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on 7 October, the Lebanese Allah Party has supported and instigated Hamas, repeatedly attacking Israeli positions, and the Israeli army has also used air strikes and artillery shelling.
The Syrian military issued a statement on the 10th, saying that Israel attacked the area around Damascus, the Syrian capital, late that night, causing damage to facilities.
The statement said that at around 23:05 local time, Israel launched air strikes on parts of the area around Damascus from the direction of the Golan Heights it occupied, and Syrian air defense systems intercepted and shot down some incoming missiles. The statement did not specify the location of the attack.
Late that night, several ** sounds could be heard in the urban area of Damascus.
Fierce conflict is likely to be protracted.
The United States previously quoted the Israeli Ministry of Defense as saying that the Israeli army's fighting in the southern Gaza Strip "has just begun", and the high-intensity phase of the operation will last for three or four weeks; The United States hopes that the Israeli army will end its high-intensity operations in the Gaza Strip by the end of December, and the Israeli army has set a target for the end of January next year.
On 6 December, in Deir al-Ballah in the Gaza Strip, people view the ruins after an Israeli airstrike. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Palestinian News Agency).
In response to this report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded in diplomatic rhetoric in an interview with CNN, saying that "Israel has the final say" in how long the war lasts.
In an interview with Israeli TV 12, Israeli adviser Tsarhi Hanegbi hinted that the Israeli army's military operation in the Gaza Strip will be protracted. "Some people are correct in estimating that the duration of this war cannot be measured in weeks," he said. I'm not sure if it can be measured in months. (Reporters: Liu Weijian, Lv Yingxu, Zhang Tianlang, Cheng Shuaipeng, Ji Ze, Wang Hongbin, Wang Yijun; Editors: Ma Xiao, Chen Dan, Du Yuge, Xu Liyu).