Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli tanks entered northern parts of the Khan Younis neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and Palestinian medics said further Israeli airstrikes killed at least 47 people across the enclave.
Residents said the tanks advanced a day after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders, saying Palestinian militants had fired rockets from the area.
As shells fell near residential areas, families left their homes and headed west towards the nearby humanitarian district of Al-Mawasi. Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas left in Gaza and that most of its 2.3 million people have been repeatedly displaced.
At least 17 people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a tent city in al-Mawasi later Wednesday, medics said. The Civil Service for Emergency Situations reported that as a result of the attack, several tents were set on fire, in which families of displaced persons were staying.
Another Israeli airstrike hit three houses in Gaza City, killing at least 10 people and injuring many, the territory’s emergency services said. Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and rescue operations are underway.
Medics reported that 11 people, including six children and a medic, were killed as a result of three airstrikes in central Gaza. According to them, the five victims were standing in line near the bakery.
Another nine Palestinians were killed by tank fire in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics said.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the information provided by the Palestinian doctors.
Israeli forces shelled Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza for the fifth day in a row, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said. Three of his health workers were injured, one seriously, on Tuesday night, he said.
DRONE STRIKES
“Drones drop bombs filled with shrapnel that injure anyone who dares to move,” Abu Safia said. “This situation is extremely urgent.”
Residents of three towns – Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun – said Israeli forces blew up dozens of houses.
Palestinians say the Israeli army is trying to force people out of the northern edge of Gaza through forced evacuations and bombings to create a buffer zone. The Israeli army denies this and says it has returned to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in an area it previously cleared.
The army says that militants often use residential buildings, schools and hospitals for operational cover. Hamas denies this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminate attacks.
Israel launched an offensive in the densely populated enclave after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities across the border on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli estimates.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 44,400 Palestinians, injured many more, and left much of the enclave in ruins.
Last week, Israel agreed to a ceasefire with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, halting fighting in the conflict that has flared up in Lebanon alongside the war in Gaza.
But the war in Gaza began with only a single ceasefire more than a year ago, which lasted for one week.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Mark Heinrich)
