While as far as Israel was concerned, it may have been only a matter of time before the fighting reached the Khan Yunis area, Hamas hoped that it would be able to halt the progress of the war in this part of the Gaza Strip. The lull last week, during which dozens of Israeli abductees were released, strengthened the sense of security among the terror organization's leadership that the army would stop in Gaza City and that a way would be found to prevent the maneuver from expanding to the southern Gaza Strip.
They also heard voices coming from Washington and leaders in the international community, who spoke of the need to reach a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, who thought that international pressure would tie Israel's hands. However, already on Friday, with the collapse of the truce and the renewed fighting, Hamas showed more and more signs of concern for them, after the fighting moved south, this time focusing on the areas surrounding Khan Yunis.
Massive IDF bombings in Khan Yunis, yesterday
Unlike Gaza City, where Yahya Sinwar is a "guest," Khan Yunis is home. That's where the emotion is. It was here that he was born and raised, like his friend, the head of Hamas' military-terrorist wing, Mohammed Deif. It is not ruled out that both of them, in addition to the third flank, Marwan Issa, another important figure in the organization, are hiding in the southern Gaza Strip, an area where fighting has picked up a gear over the past two days with loud strikes from the air and calls on residents to evacuate to safe places.
Until the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, nearly a quarter of a million people lived in Khan Yunis, the "capital of the south." Meanwhile, tens of thousands of families and displaced persons seeking shelter with relatives, UNRWA facilities and schools, and tent villages have fled to this area and surrounding towns. The influx of residents into the southern Gaza Strip in the shadow of the war turned the Khan Yunis and Rafah governorates into "safe zones of non-warfare," which allowed Hamas operatives and members of the terrorist organization to feel more or less safe there, until now. Under the auspices of the evacuated population, they thought of finding cities of refuge.
Without diminishing the importance of Gaza City, which serves as Hamas' governmental and military nerve center, Khan Yunis is a symbol for Yahya Sinwar. As an organization that works on consciousness and for which image is important, symbols are no small matter, and damaging them may prove essential.
Yahya Sinwar (archive), photo: AFP
Hamas' strongholds of support are mainly located here. At the same time, with the strengthening of his leadership in recent years in Gaza and with funding from Qatar and other sources, Sinwar has invested resources in developing public services in his hometown. Several medical centers have been upgraded and a number of new residential projects have been built for the benefit of residents in the Madinat Hamad neighborhood, which was bombed yesterday. It is no coincidence that he sacrificed some money from the military armament clause for "civilian clauses" in a city close to his heart. The bar of his popularity rose correspondingly.
Hence, the challenge is greater and more complicated. Crushing military capabilities, dropping thousands of kilograms of explosives, and bombing hundreds of targets of the terrorist organization is necessary – but not enough.
People in the neighborhood where Sinwar grew up don't care how many missiles he has left. In their consciousness, his "spirit" still exists. Nor do they count how many commanders from the battalions of Hamas' military-terrorist wing were eliminated. In this case, too, despite the painful and severe losses suffered by the organization, its operatives have not yet lost the desire to fight. When these two things are undermined, we will know that we are approaching a real weakening of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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