Israel's continued pressure on Gazans rekindles neighbours' fears

Civilians driven further south in move seen as possible bid to expel them from territory

- Jonathan Eyal

LONDON - Israel has claimed that its troops are now "in the heart of Khan Younis", a key city in southern Gaza, in apparent defiance of demands by the United States that Israel should exercise particular care in expanding the war to what is now the most densely populated part of the Palestinian territory.

In a news conference during the late hours of Dec 5, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the devastation meted out over the past month on Gaza City in the north is now being repeated in Khan Younis.

In subsequent remarks, Major-General Yaron Finkelman, chief of the Israeli military's Southern Command, said his troops are now engaged "in the most intense" fighting since the beginning of the ground operation against the Hamas militant Palestinian organisation.

"We intend to continue attacking," he added.

Early in its campaign launched in response to the Hamas attack on Israel in early October, Israel ordered the civilian population in northern Gaza to seek safety by moving further south.

At the time, that made sense for Israel, since most of Hamas' command posts were in northern Gaza.

But as an estimated 1.7 million Palestinian civilians fled the north of the territory, so did many of the Hamas fighters.