GAZA: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has alleged his forces have dismantled Hamas in Gaza’s southern Khan Younis as part of an almost four-month-old offensive in which 10,000 Palestinian fighters have been killed and the same number wounded, Reuters reports.

“We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us,” he said in a statement, referring to a city on Gaza’s border with Egypt that has been packed with displaced civilians.

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a new AFP tally based on the latest official figures available.

The tally showed the number of those killed in Israel on October 7, including members of the security forces and civilians, has risen to 1,163 compared with a death toll of 1,139 in mid-December.

To calculate the new figure, AFP cross-referenced data published separately by Israel’s social security agency, the army, the police, the Shin Bet security agency and the prime minister’s office.

The new count includes those taken hostage on October 7, whose deaths have since been confirmed.