Senior officials in the IDF estimate that a transition is underway to a new, very sensitive stage of fighting in Khan Yunis, with a greater chance of locating hostages.
The assessment comes against the backdrop of documentation published by the IDF on Saturday of a tunnel in Khan Yunis in which hostages had been held, in which a drawing by Emilia Aloni, a five-year-old hostage released in November during the hostages-for-prisoners exchange, was hung on the wall.
"The chance of locating hostages increases as forces carry out operations in the Gaza Strip, with a focus on Khan Yunis,” officials said. “The combination of intelligence and thorough work in the field is yielding results. There is progress, and there are additional findings, including a cage where hostages were kept,” they added.
Officials also said that according to estimates, IDF forces are approaching Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, in the Khan Yunis area. However, they do not rule out the possibility that Sinwar could escape to another hiding place as the IDF closes in on him.
IDF forces operating 24/7 for maximum pressure on Hamas
The IDF’s Kfir Brigade said that activity in the Strip is carried out in round-the-clock shifts in order to increase pressure on Hamas and to create more opportunities to reveal their locations while they are hiding in tunnels, shafts, or apartments.
Officials said that every day, locations are cleared that were used to hold hostages, but that amid the pressure placed on Hamas, a decision may have been made to disperse the hostages and their captors across a larger area without further communication about their whereabouts.
The IDF emphasized that all the brigade combat teams operate in parallel with units dedicated to collecting information that could lead to the discovery of hostages.