Israeli tanks pushed into northern parts of the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 20 people across the enclave.
The latest strikes came as Hamas said it had information that Israel intended to carry out a hostage rescue operation similar to one conducted in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp in June and threatened to “neutralize” the captives if such an operation took place, according to an internal statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
In the internal statement dated Nov. 22, Hamas told its operatives not to consider any repercussions of following the instructions and said Israel was responsible for the fate of the hostages. It did not say when any Israeli operation was expected to take place.
Meanwhile, residents said tanks advanced one day after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders, saying there had been …