IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says that IDF troops have so far killed more than 2,000 Hamas operatives in the Khan Younis area, writes The Times of Israel.

At an evening press conference, Hagari says that fighting is currently centered on Khan Younis, “which is the Hamas capital in the south”, where troops are working in a focused manner to take out Hamas.

In Khan Younis, “more than 2,000 Hamas operatives have been killed above and below ground” since troops began operating in the south of the Strip last month, he says, including hundreds over the past week.

Many Hamas commanders were killed, fled and surrendered to IDF troops, he says, handing over valuable intelligence information about the terror group. He also says that soldiers have also arrested many Hamas gunmen who took part in the October 7 onslaught.

Hagari also addresses comments to the 136 hostages - not all of them alive - still being held in Gaza: “If you can hear me now, we have not forgotten you, we think about you all the time… There is a huge international effort, and our job is to create the conditions to bring everyone home”.