Tel Aviv, Dec 9 (IANS): The special forces unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has entered the centre of Khan Younis area of Gaza which is home to the Hamas military operations top leaders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar.

Officials in the IDF told IANS that the elite 98 division of the Special Forces Unit of the forces had raided a compound which was a base of Hamas men.

The unit had raided this compound with inputs from Military Intelligence that the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 from Israel have been kept here.

However, sources told IANS that Hamas men resorted to firing and in exchange of fire, several Hamas operatives were killed. A few IDF soldiers were also injured in the attack, and according to IDF the families of the injured soldiers were informed about it.

The IDF, according to senior officers, has not been able to find any hostage in the compound in Khan Younis central area, but it was cleared of Hamas men.

An IDF unit had surrounded one of the homes of Yahya Sinwar near Khan Younis a couple of day before but he was not found.

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had in public said that the IDF would search and find out Yahya Sinwar and kill him. Israel believes that Sinwar was the mastermind behind the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.