The Israeli army said it has completely encircled the main southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also reported army casualties during the siege of the city in a major offensive. He said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had booby-trapped for demolition exploded after militants opened fire on a nearby tank. Three soldiers were previously reported killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:
Yesterday we experienced one of our most difficult days since the war erupted. In the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory.
The deaths came during the fiercest fighting of 2024 as the Israel Army stormed the remaining parts of Khan Younis, the main town in the south of the enclave where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge. The military said:
Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade.
Gazans say Israeli troops have blockaded and stormed hospitals as they advance from the west towards the Mediterranean coast, leaving the wounded and dead beyond the reach of rescuers.
At least 195 Palestinians have been killed in the previous 24 hours, raising the death toll to 25,490, according to Palestinian health officials. Thousands of the dead are still under the rubble of buildings.
The dead were buried inside Nasser’s main hospital in Khan Younis because the road to the cemetery is unsafe due to the shelling. Another Khan Younis hospital, Al-Khair, was stormed by Israeli troops, who arrested its staff, while a third, Al-Amal, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent, was inaccessible, Palestinian officials said.
The Red Crescent said its headquarters on the fourth floor of Amal was hit by a tank shell, a civilian was killed at the entrance, and Israeli forces have been firing drones at anyone in the vicinity, making it impossible to send ambulances to the entire Khan Younis neighbourhood.
Israel claims that Hamas militants operate in and around the hospitals, making them legitimate targets. Hospital staff and Hamas officials deny this. Abu Khaled, who took refuge in a school in Deir al-Balah, one of the few neighbourhoods not yet stormed by Israeli forces:
“The resistance said it is going to make Gaza a graveyard for the occupation, and this is what is happening. The more they stay, the more we will suffer for sure – but the more they will suffer too.”
Since Israel launched its ground offensive in October, nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have lost their homes. The vast majority of them now live in tents in towns north and south of Khan Younis, without enough food, water or medicine.
Last week, Netanyahu publicly vowed never to allow the creation of an independent Palestinian state, rejecting the decades-old Middle East policy of Israel’s main ally, Washington.
