Hamas fighters engage, push back Israeli troops ‘infiltrating’ Gaza

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says its fighters have confronted, and repelled, an “infiltrating force” of the Israeli military in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement the infiltration was carried out in the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Qassam said its fighters destroyed two infiltrating armored bulldozers and one tank in a border area inside Gaza and forced the Israeli troops to leave their vehicles and escape on foot into a military post behind the fence. The Brigades said its fighters returned to their posts safely following the border operation.

“Fighters engaged with the infiltrating force, destroying two bulldozers and a tank and forced (the enemy) to withdraw before they returned safely to base,” the statement said.

The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed and three were injured during the confrontation, with local sources reporting hearing fierce armed clashes and explosions in the east of Khan Younis.

The Qassam Brigades statement comes amid speculations of an imminent ground invasion by the Israeli military of the Gaza Strip as the illegal entity’s brutal onslaught on the besieged area drags on for the 17th day.

The relentless bombardment of Gaza has so far claimed more than 5,000 lives and left three times as many injured.

US urges ‘delay’ in ground offensive

Several American officials were cited in a report by The New York Times on Monday that the administration of President Joe Biden had asked Israel to delay its invasion plan to allow time for the release of prisoners and shipment of aid into Gaza.

“The Biden administration has advised Israel to delay a ground invasion of Gaza, hoping to buy time for hostage negotiations and to allow more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the sealed-off enclave.”

The report also cited American officials as saying that the Biden administration wanted more time to prepare for possible attacks on US interests in the region, which officials said are likely to intensify once Israel moves its forces fully into Gaza.

MG