Combating intensified in southern Gaza on Monday, with medical personnel reporting heavy exchanges of gunfire and a surge of Israeli tanks and troops into areas round hospitals.
The Palestinian Crimson Crescent Society and the Gazan well being ministry stated many individuals had been killed and wounded within the metropolis of Khan Younis on Monday, with out offering particular counts. Nahed Abu Taaema, the director of surgical procedure at Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital in southern Gaza, informed Al Jazeera in a televised interview that it had acquired 100 wounded individuals and 50 our bodies.
Naseem Hasan, an ambulance officer at Nasser, stated in an interview that tanks have been about 100 meters south of the hospital and “can goal anybody.” He stated one ambulance carrying an individual who had been shot within the head was not in a position to attain Nasser this morning and needed to go to a hospital in Rafah — a journey that took three hours.
In a press release, the Crimson Crescent stated the presence of Israeli troops close to Al-Amal Hospital, which it operates, meant that its ambulances couldn’t attain the injured in Khan Younis. It stated that anybody trying to maneuver across the space was coming beneath fireplace.
“Khan Younis could be very harmful now,” Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Crimson Crescent, stated in an interview. “The entire district of Khan Younis is basically besieged.”
As Israel has wound down its operations in northern Gaza, it has pushed forward with its invasion of Khan Younis, the place tons of of 1000’s of displaced individuals have sought shelter in faculties, hospitals and tent cities.
Israeli officers have stated the marketing campaign within the metropolis — which they describe as a Hamas stronghold — was focusing on the group’s management, and so they have accused Hamas of utilizing hospitals and different civilian infrastructure to cover its operations. However civilians, a lot of whom have relocated a number of occasions for the reason that begin of the warfare, have been left with no refuge.
Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official information company, reported on Monday that a number of individuals had been killed and wounded at a college in Al-Mawasi, a seaside space west of Khan Younis, after an Israeli strike. The report couldn’t be independently verified. The varsity was sheltering displaced individuals who went there after the Israeli navy informed them that Al-Mawasi was a protected zone.
Ms. Farsakh stated that Crimson Crescent crews had been receiving calls from individuals who have been wounded throughout Khan Younis, together with on the college in Al-Mawasi, and that the crews have been unable to reply “as a result of they’re being focused.”
The Israeli navy stated on Monday that its troopers launched a brand new operation on Sunday evening in western Khan Younis that will goal Hamas infrastructure, together with a safety headquarters and command facilities, over the subsequent a number of days.
Military officers famous in a press release that the delicate websites within the space embrace a number of hospitals, however that Hamas “exploits the civilian inhabitants” and has used medical amenities of their operations, together with an assault launched final week from Nasser Hospital. The assertion stated areas occupied by civilians had been marked and the troopers concerned would use their expertise to “mitigate hurt to uninvolved people.”
A day after Gaza well being ministry stated the loss of life toll within the combating had reached 25,000, officers stated that Israeli strikes had killed 190 individuals and wounded 340 others within the enclave over the earlier 24 hours. It didn’t specify how lots of the casualties have been in Khan Younis.
A couple of hours later, the Israeli navy stated it had misplaced 200 troopers for the reason that begin of its floor operations in Gaza on Oct. 27, a part of its broader response to the Oct. 7 assault, which Israeli officers say left about 1,200 individuals lifeless.
Ameera Harouda contributed reporting from Doha, Qatar, Abu Bakr Bashir from London, and Johnatan Reiss in Tel Aviv.