Omar Ashour, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says it is clear that Israel’s ground forces in southern Gaza are meeting stiff resistance from Palestinians.

“In Shujayea neighbourhood, for example, an Israeli commander was talking to the media and describing how the area had been cleared – just then an attack happened,” Ashour told Al Jazeera.

“In Khan Younis, based on the statements from the Israeli military, nine brigades are deployed in just one governate of the Gaza Strip. These include paratrooper brigades, a special forces brigade, and armoured brigades.

“When you have this number of elite forces in such a small area it tells me the fight has a very long way to go.”