The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of Khan Younis on Monday morning, saying it was preparing to “act violently” there after rockets were fired from an area designated as a humanitarian zone.
“Due to significant terrorist activity and rocket fire towards the State of Israel from the eastern part of the humanitarian zone, it has become dangerous to remain in this area,” the army said in a statement, and minutes later launched the attack, according to Al Jazeera.
“The (Israeli army) will operate vigorously against terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis to temporarily evacuate the area to the adapted humanitarian area of Al Mawazi.”
At least 16 dead
At least 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes near Khan Younis, health sources in the Palestinian enclave announced today.
Gaza health officials said at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, while the area was also bombed from the air.
Gaza’s Health Ministry announced that six children and four women were among the dead. It added that dozens of others were wounded by Israeli fire. Hamas media reports put the death toll at 26.
Nowhere safe in Gaza
The Palestinians, the United Nations and international aid agencies say there is no longer a safe place in Gaza. Earlier this month, dozens of Palestinians were killed in separate attacks by Israeli forces in the humanitarian-designated al-Mawasi area.
Israel noted that the strikes targeted armed fighters, including some Hamas military commanders. Palestinian authorities have dismissed the statements as false, saying they are intended to justify the attacks.
Earlier today, health authorities at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis asked residents to donate blood due to the large number of victims being transported to the medical center.
Reuters footage showed victims, including some women and children, arriving at Nasser Hospital in ambulances and others in private vehicles.
“A family, including children, was killed while they were sleeping,” said a man who arrived in an ambulance carrying the bodies.
Heavy bombing
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Management Agency said it had received reports of dozens of people killed by Israeli air and tank fire on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis, but its teams were unable to reach them due to the intensity of the shelling.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on two houses in the Al-Burayj and Deir al-Balakh areas in the central part of the Gaza Strip, injuring several people, according to medical sources.
Another airstrike in Gaza City, in the northern part of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, killed two more Palestinians, the same sources added.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas after its militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli reports. More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive that has since been launched in retaliation, according to Gaza health officials.
A ceasefire effort led by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States has so far failed due to disagreements over its terms between the warring parties, who blame each other for the impasse.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ordered a delegation tasked with negotiating a hostage deal to be dispatched on Thursday, his office said, without specifying where it would be sent.
Yesterday, Netanyahu held a meeting with this delegation and with senior members of Israel’s defense apparatus, his office added in the statement it issued.
With information from APE-MPE, Le Monde, Reuters
