Khan Younis death toll rises to 81
We have received the following update from our team on the ground in Gaza, reporting on the developments in the Khan Younis governorate in the past 24 hours.
- At least 81 people have been killed and more than 250 others injured, with the casualties arriving at Nasser Hospital.
- Israeli air raids targeted the al-Qarara area, north of Khan Younis, the Sheikh Nasser neighbourhood and the al-Balad area in the centre of the governorate, as well as the town of Abasan al-Kabira in the east.
- There was also continuous artillery shelling in the eastern areas of Khan Younis and quadcopters shot at anything that tried to move from one place to another.
- Israeli forces targeted the al-Qahwaji family house in the centre of the Bani Suheila town in the east of the governorate, the al-Jabour family and the Abu Taha family homes in the city of Khan Younis.
- People are being displaced from the eastern areas of Khan Younis towards the western parts.
- A number of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers are stationed along al-Shuhada Street in the centre of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, from al-Alam Roundabout to al-Farabi School.
Israel shrinks Gaza’s ‘humanitarian zone’
Israel’s military launched artillery and air strikes on eastern Khan Younis shortly after demanding residents leave what it had previously designated a humanitarian zone.
The enclave’s population, most of which has been displaced and is in desperate need of shelter and food, has found it increasingly difficult to find security as they have been pushed into shrinking “safe zones” by Israel’s bombardment.
“People feel like the Israelis are playing a chess game with them, moving them from one place to another, and no place is safe,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said reporting from the ground.
Israeli army claims striking more than 50 targets in Khan Younis
We have been reporting that a new Israeli military operation in the Khan Younis governorate of Gaza has killed more than 81 people since yesterday morning, including women and children.
The Israeli army now claims that it has been targeting “terror groups” in the area in the past 24 hours, with its aircraft striking more than 50 sites used by the fighters as its ground forces with the 98th Division pushed into the city of Khan Younis.
The new offensive is being carried out by the division’s 7th Armored Brigade, the Paratroopers Brigade, and Commando Brigade, the military said in a statement. It said the armoured forces killed people with tank shelling.
Further south, in Rafah, the Israeli troops with the 162nd Division claimed to have killed dozens of people.
Death toll from Israeli bombing in Khan Younis rises to 89
At least 89 people have been killed in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis governorate, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office, since Israel launched a new military operation in the area yesterday morning, without giving civilians time to flee. Hundreds of people are also reported injured.
Two people were killed in recent hours and many others injured in an Israeli bombing in the Mirage area, south of Khan Younis, our colleagues on the ground report.
Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli army snipers in the Bani Suheila town, east of Khan Younis, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
