TEHRAN- The Israeli minister for war, Yoav Gallant, has claimed that the occupation army has "disbanded" the armed wing of Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. 

Gallant now says the Israeli air and ground invasion of Gaza will expand to the city of Rafah despite the huge number of civilians that have sought refuge in the Palestinian border city with Egypt. 

About half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are estimated to have fled to Rafah, where they are seeking shelter from the merciless Israeli bombardments that have been continuing unabated for 120 days. 

The Israeli remarks on Khan Younis contradict reports on the ground that indicate the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades, continue to resist the regime's ground forces in the southern city. 

An Israeli troop carrier was destroyed, and a Merkava tank was set ablaze on Friday with Al-Yassin 105 shells and missiles fired by the al-Qassam brigades on the western side of Khan Younis. 

Palestinian sources say heavy gunfire was also heard from Israeli military vehicles in the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. 

In a post on social media on Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) warned that "Israeli tanks are currently stationed in al-Amal Hospital front yard, firing live ammunition and smoke grenades at the displaced individuals and PRCS staff." 

"We deeply worry for the safety of our teams, the wounded, the sick, and thousands of displaced people in the building," The PRCS added. 

The hospital is the latest healthcare site, which the Israeli military has targeted in its four-month invasion of the Gaza Strip that has violated all the rules of war. 

War crimes against Gaza's civilians look set to continue as the regime's army fails to break the will of the resistance in any part of the enclave and is now seeking to drop bombs on the city home to most of the Palestinians displaced. 

"The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organization is disbanded; we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah," Gallant claimed. 

The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry on Friday said at least 112 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 148 were injured in the past 24 hours, most of the casualties were in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas press office, which reported heavy Israeli aerial and artillery bombardment of the city. 

The vast number of Palestinian casualties, according to data backed by the United Nations (at least 27,131 killed and 66,287 injured since 7 October) have been women and children. These astonishing figures have done little to stop the regime from carrying out more massacres. 

Rafah is a "pressure cooker of despair," the United Nations has warned.  

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs emphasized its "deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Younis, which has resulted in an increase in the number of internally displaced people seeking refuge in Rafah in recent days". 

"Thousands of Palestinians have continued to flee to the south, which is already hosting over half the population of some 2.3 million people.  

"Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next," it added. 

With no good news to send back to Tel Aviv as Israeli media continue to report on more casualties among Israeli soldiers, the occupying regime looks like it wants to wrap up the entire invasion of the Gaza Strip as quickly as possible. 

The method with which the regime has been executing its military invasion has been met with strong condemnation by almost the entire international community. 

Nearly four months of Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and its tight siege on water, food, fuel and medicines entering the territory has left Gaza "uninhabitable", according to the UN.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in a very difficult situation. On one hand, he has approved the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian civilian population and a "plausible" case for "genocide" to please his far-right extremist ministers. 

On the other hand, he is under immense pressure at home and abroad to end the onslaught of Palestinian children. 

But that could result in Netanyahu's far-right Zionist ministers stepping down and the collapse of his rule, which will most likely see the veteran Israeli war criminal end up in jail.