Israel’s military has admitted that it has “not defeated” all four Hamas battalions active in the central Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces sustained casualties on Wednesday in at least three attacks launched by Palestinian fighters in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City in the north of the territory.

US-based think tanks, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and Critical Threats Project (CTP), also reported that Palestinian fighters targeted Israeli infantry and armour in Zeitoun with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and “explosively-formed penetrators”.

In southern Khan Younis, fighting continues to rage with Palestinian fighters ambushing Israeli special forces and soldiers and attacking with thermobaric rockets, RPGs and small arms, according to the latest ISW/CTP battlefield report.