Gaza mediators, Israel spy chief to meet in Rome: Egypt media

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, destroying tunnels and other infrastructure as they tried to suppress small militant units that have continued to pound troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian soldiers since Israeli troops launched their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to end the fighting.
It said seven small units that had fired grenade launchers at the troops were hit in an airstrike, while further south, in Rafah, four warplanes were also killed in airstrikes.
Islamic Jihad's armed wing said it fired rockets at the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli cities near Gaza. No injuries were reported, according to the Israeli Ambulance Service.
The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the October 7 attack, underscored the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.
A Telegram channel run by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two biggest militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been fighting fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons.
Doctors said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in eastern Khan Younis.

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US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.
However, there have been no clear signs of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements by Israel and Hamas seem to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.
Local residents contacted by the messenger app said Israeli tanks had entered three towns east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara, blowing up several houses in some residential areas.
The military said the air force jets hit about 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.
Even as fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza City, residents said.
A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.
Doctors said two Palestinians were also killed in an airstrike in western Gaza City.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Israeli officials estimate that about 14,000 soldiers from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or captured, out of a force they estimated at more than 25,000 at the start of the war.

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