Israel advances into southern Gaza, killing more Palestinians

Mohamed Badereldin, Sunday 28 Jul 2024

Israeli tanks went deeper into Gaza's southern regions on Sunday, with its strikes mainly targeting the south of the strip and killing 66 Palestinians over the last 24 hours.

Gaza
Palestinians salvage some belongings as they search the rubble of a residential block belonging to the Abu Khousa family after it was destroyed in an Israeli strike on Al-Jalaa Street, in Gaza City. AFP

 

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli airstrikes supported the tank advance in the towns of Al-Karara, Al-Zanna, and Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Reuters.

The strikes also killed nine Palestinians in those areas, including a child, according to WAFA news agency. 

Fighting was heard in eastern Khan Younis, as Palestinian families fled the violence heading towards Israeli-designated "humanitarian zones." The families, most of whom were displaced for the third or fourth time, headed towards Al-Mawasi to the west or Deir Al-Balah to the north, according to Reuters. 

Israel, which has a history of attacking designated humanitarian zones and shelters, just launched an attack on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza on Saturday, killing at least 36 people and injuring 120 others. 

On Saturday, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, claiming it is planning an operation against Hamas resistance members in Khan Younis, including parts of Al-Mawasi. Thousands of Palestinians are seeking refuge in this makeshift tent camp.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometre (roughly 20-square-mile) humanitarian zone, to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee throughout the war.

The UN and humanitarian groups said much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates, which is more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

Gaza's civil defence agency said on Saturday that Israel's military operation in Khan Younis city has killed around 170 people and wounded hundreds since it began on Monday.

Qatari, Egyptian, and US mediators, including CIA director William Burns, are to meet with Israeli negotiators in Rome on Sunday in the latest push for a Gaza truce, which critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have accused him of blocking.

The latest mediation efforts have focused on a ceasefire and captive release accompanied by increased aid flows into besieged Gaza and the freeing of Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

Israel has killed at least 39,324 in Gaza, mainly women and children, and injured 90,830 others since the war started, as per the most recent toll on Sunday.

Short link: