Khan Younis reduced to ‘sand and rubble’
Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip has largely been reduced to sand and rubble, says Muhannad Hadi, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Hadi was in Khan Younis for a rare visit from an outside official to the besieged enclave on Tuesday, and says every building he saw there was damaged in some way. Hadi said many of the women he spoke to said they had cut off their hair, as “extreme overcrowding” in temporary shelters and tent camps was leading to the spread of lice.
Last week, Israel ordered the forced displacement of 250,000 Palestinians from eastern Khan Younis, according to UN estimates.
Children pick through rubble in Shujayea ‘ghost town’ after Israeli forces withdraw
Palestinian boys fill sacks with wood for cooking while searching through the rubble of destroyed buildings after the Israeli military withdrew from Shujayea in Gaza City on Wednesday
A destroyed Israeli military vehicle remains in the streets of Shujayea after Israeli forces withdrew
Mahmoud Bassal, the civil defence spokesperson in Gaza, said Shujayea had become ‘a ghost town that is no longer fit for living’
Israel continues to face ‘fierce resistance’ in north Gaza as Shujayea operation ends
The Israeli army confirmed late on Wednesday that they’ve wrapped up their two-week operation in northern Gaza’s Shujayea neighbourhood.
It comes after at least 60,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from the Palestinian neighbourhood, according to the United Nations. We know that dozens of Palestinians were killed in the relentless bombardment both from the air and on land in the last two weeks.
Israeli military officials have said that this was a precise and targeted operation based on their intelligence. They say that Hamas was using several areas and facilities for military purposes. But they did not provide any proof of Hamas using those facilities. They said that it was based on their own intelligence.
This comes after months of the Israeli army saying that they had obtained near full operational control of these areas in northern Gaza. But we know that to be untrue. On Wednesday, the Israeli army ordered an additional evacuation of Gaza City, but later walked back that statement saying that it was just for certain areas where the Israeli army is looking to target rocket launching sites.
Nonetheless, the Israeli military is still facing fierce resistance in northern Gaza as they wrap up their operation in Shujayea.
