Israel is fighting rocket positions of the Islamist Hamas in Khan Yunis. Thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire. For many of them, the only option is to flee.
According to Palestinian reports, a new advance by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip has resulted in many deaths. The army attacked in the east of the city of Khan Yunis, eyewitnesses said. At least 71 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and another 200 were injured, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, citing hospital staff. The information could not be independently verified.
The Israeli army had previously called on residents in the eastern part of the city to leave the area immediately. Intelligence had shown that the Islamist Hamas was carrying out rocket attacks on Israel from there. The army would take decisive action against this, as it would be dangerous for civilians, it announced on its Telegram channel.
According to eyewitnesses, thousands of civilians fled. Many of them had already fled from other parts of the Gaza Strip before the war. The army later announced that Hamas fighters had been killed and more than 30 military facilities destroyed, including weapons depots, observation posts and tunnels, using aircraft and tanks. These figures could not be independently verified either.
The Israeli military had been active against Hamas combat units in Khan Yunis several times in the past, even over long periods of time, but had then retreated to permanent positions outside the city. The army accuses Hamas of having exploited this to infiltrate there again and to use parts of the humanitarian zone declared by Israel for its activities.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre in which more than 1,200 people died, which terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7 last year. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is increasingly being criticized internationally.
Source: Stern
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