Tel Aviv, Jan 5 (IANS): The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intensified operations in southern Gaza's Khan Younis area, with reports of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of the Fatah joining the Hamas's military wing Al-Qassam Brigades in the raging war.
Sources in the Israeli Defence Ministry told IANS that the IDF has made major advancements in southern Gaza and added that many terror operatives were neutralised.
The entry of the other Palestinian militant groups have increased the fire power of Hamas.
They are using anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars in the intense fighting in Khan Younis, the sources said.
US-based think tanks -- the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) -- have also said that the presence of new groups in the war have increased ammunition strength in the region.
It is being said that top Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar are believed to be in hiding in the tunnel network of Khan Younis.