Israel sent tanks back into the greater Khan Younis area on Monday following evacuation orders for districts used for renewed attacks by militants. At least 70 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, according to Gaza medics.
The deaths occurred due to tank salvos in Bani Suhaila and other towns on the eastern side of Khan Younis, with the area also under aerial bombardment, medics reported.
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Residents of the densely built-up southern Gaza region stated that tanks advanced over two kilometers into Bani Suhaila, forcing them to flee under fire. “It is like doomsday,” one resident, identified as Abu Khaled, told Reuters. “People are fleeing under fire, many are dead and wounded on the roads.”
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that the dead included several women and children, and at least 200 others were wounded. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its death counts.
The Israeli military stated that evacuation orders for eastern Khan Younis were based on intelligence indicating militants were launching rockets from the area and that Hamas was trying to regroup. “Since this morning, the IAF and IDF artillery forces have struck more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis, including the area from which a projectile was launched toward Nirim in southern Israel earlier today,” the military said.
Approximately 400,000 people were living in the targeted areas, and dozens of families began to leave their homes, Palestinian officials said, adding they were not given time to escape before the strikes began. Some families fled on donkey carts, others on foot, carrying mattresses and belongings.
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The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that two of its clinics in eastern Khan Younis were knocked out of operation due to the offensive. At Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital, people stood outside the morgue to bid farewell to deceased relatives.
“We are tired, we are tired in Gaza, every day our children are martyred, every day, every moment,” said Ahmed Sammour, who lost several relatives in the bombings of eastern Khan Younis. “No one told us to evacuate. They brought four floors crashing down on civilians,” he added.
In nearby Deir Al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent used by local journalists inside Al-Aqsa Hospital, killing one journalist and wounding two others, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. This latest casualty brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in the Israeli offensive to 163, it added.