- Israeli ground operation in Gaza
- Intense bombardment, civilian evacuations
- Ongoing conflict, high civilian casualties
Israeli ground forces are currently advancing upon southern Gaza following three days of intense bombardment. Early confirmations from Israeli army radio have established that an Israeli ground operation has been initiated to the north of Khan Younis.
Later, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) commander informed the troops that the IDF was engaged in “vigorous and comprehensive” combat in southern Gaza. Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi discussed military objectives and the IDF’s elimination of Hamas commanders with reservists from the Gaza division. He addressed the soldiers, stating, “We fought assiduously and vigorously in the northern Gaza Strip, and we continue to do so in the southern Gaza Strip as well.”
Later, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesman verified that the incursion “continues to expand on the ground” throughout Gaza. Troops are “engaging in direct combat with terrorists.”
Israel resumed a massive bombing campaign against Gaza on Friday, following the conclusion of a week-long truce. The inhabitants of Khan Younis have characterized this latest surge of attacks as the most intense to date.
During the seven-day ceasefire, Hamas released 110 Gazan captives in exchange for 240 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
The Israeli army issued evacuation orders for multiple districts of Khan Younis on Sunday morning, urging residents to depart promptly. Israeli authorities have reason to assume that Hamas leadership members are hiding in the city, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought refuge since the early stages of the conflict when they fled fighting in the north.
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Unprecedented Panic in Gaza Hospital
A UN official recounted an unprecedented “degree of panic” in a Gaza hospital after Israel’s southward advance. James Elder, representing the children’s organization Unicef, used the term “warzone” to refer to Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli prime minister’s adviser said “every effort” is being made to avert civilian deaths. Mr. Elder reported that he could constantly hear large explosions in the vicinity of the Nasser hospital, and children with severe burns, head injuries, and shrapnel were being admitted as a result of recent outbreaks.
“I have been a frequent visitor to that hospital, and the children and their families have grown acquainted with me. The aforementioned individuals are seizing my hand or shirt and pleading with me to ‘please lead us to a safe location.’ ‘Where is security?’ Unfortunately, they are posing a query to which the sole response is that safety is nonexistent,” he continued.
Since the bombing resumed, the health ministry in Gaza, which Hamas controls, reports that over 500 persons have been killed. According to the church, over 15,500 individuals have lost their lives in the strip since the outbreak of hostilities.
Efforts to Protect Civilians Amidst Conflict
A British-Palestinian who has resided in Gaza, Mohammed Ghalayini, described the situation in the city as “extraordinarily dire.” He stated that the population has been enduring a brutal Israeli assault for at least fifty days and is extremely low on all resources, including food, water, electricity, sanitation, and refuse services.
The Manchester-based air pollution expert visited his mother in Gaza for three months before the October 7 attacks. Israel initiated retaliatory airstrikes against Gaza on October 7 in response to Hamas’s assaults on southern Israel, which resulted in an estimated 1,200 fatalities and 240 abductions.
IDF’s Targeting of Hamas Infrastructure
Israel has been subjected to frequent rocket fire from Gaza ever since hostilities recommenced on Friday. Saturday, in the city of Holon, close to Tel Aviv, a 22-year-old man was treated for minor projectile wounds.
Hundreds of thousands of individuals have already sought refuge in Khan Younis. They fled the conflict since Israel ordered them to abandon the northern portion of the strip. Approximately 1.8 million individuals are internally displaced in Gaza, according to the most recent UN report.
Human rights chief of the United Nations, Filippo Grandi, stated that the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is “becoming increasingly confined to a narrow corner of a territory that is already quite limited in scope.”
The IDF has begun publishing online maps of areas amenable to attack. It is stated that in addition to phone calls and leaflets dropped from an aeroplane onto Gaza. These maps will be utilized to notify residents to evacuate.
According to Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, civilians are not intended targets, and their protection is complicated by Hamas’s “embedding of its military terror machine” in residential areas. He said in a “very difficult combat situation,” the IDF is “as surgical as possible” and warns of oncoming attacks.
Additionally, the IDF claimed to have demolished 500 of Hamas’ 800 Gaza “terror tunnel” constructions. These structures have been discovered thus far. A further 10,000 air strikes on “terror targets” have been conducted by the air force “under the guidance of IDF soldiers on the ground” since the start of the conflict, according to the report.
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