Israeli airstrikes claim dozens of Palestinian lives in Khan Yunis
shahennews
Dozens of Palestinians were killed and many others were injured as the Israeli occupation forces intensified their bombing campaign in the city of Khan Yunis, located in the southern Gaza Strip, during the past few hours.
Palestinian sources confirmed that at least 24 Palestinians lost their lives and several individuals were wounded in Israeli airstrikes that specifically targeted homes and areas where displaced individuals sought shelter near the European Hospital. As a result of these attacks, the total number of deaths in Khan Yunis has reached 55 within a single day.
The Israeli artillery has also targeted eastern areas of the city, as well as several locations in the central Gaza Strip. Furthermore, Israeli aircraft have fired internationally prohibited phosphorus bombs into the Jabalia market area and its surroundings in northern Gaza.
Additionally, reports indicate that occupation forces have besieged the town and camp of Jabalia, forcibly evacuating residents from their homes under threat and setting some dwellings ablaze.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has expressed concerns about the safety of 127 individuals, including medical personnel and 22 wounded, as the occupation forces continue to besiege the Jabalia Ambulance Center.
In Jabalia, 30 unidentified martyrs were laid to rest in the old cemetery on Thursday morning.
The Nasser Hospital received the bodies of 32 martyrs in recent hours, including four children who were killed in an Israeli raid on Khan Yunis.
Additionally, at least 10 deaths lost their lives when the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque near the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, south of the Strip, was targeted by Israeli bombings. Journalists in the vicinity of the hospital were also injured during the occupation raids.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the death toll in Gaza since the beginning of the aggression on October 7 has reached an alarming figure of no less than 20,000, including 8,000 children and 6,200 women. The number of wounded individuals has exceeded 52,600.
In a separate development, the United Nations announced on Thursday that Israel is planning to evacuate a significant area in Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip. This area has become a refuge for many Palestinians who have been displaced by the ongoing aggression against the Strip over the past two and a half months.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed in a report that the occupation army aims to evacuate approximately 20 percent of Khan Yunis’ total area.
While the precise scale of displacement resulting from the evacuation is yet to be determined, the UN office noted that the Strip was inhabited by over 111,000 people before the war began on October 7. Since that date, approximately 141,000 Palestinians have sought refuge in the area, currently residing in 32 camps.
//Petra// WH
