Extra Palestinians displaced as Israel battles Hamas in south Gaza By Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

DOHA/GAZA (Reuters) -Medical amenities are vulnerable to collapse in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza metropolis now on the focus of Israel’s offensive, the Gaza Well being Ministry warned on Sunday, as combating raged throughout the Palestinian enclave.

Residents mentioned Israeli planes and tanks additionally pounded areas in Gaza Metropolis to the north, the place Israel has been pulling out troops. The combating may very well be heard within the close by cities of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, close to to Gaza Metropolis.

Israel’s navy mentioned it was engaged in “intensive battles” in Khan Younis, the place it mentioned troops “eradicated terrorists and positioned giant portions of weapons”.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad mentioned fighters clashed with Israeli troops in a number of areas throughout the enclave in a single day. Hamas’ armed wing mentioned its fighters destroyed two Israeli tanks in Khan Younis.

The newest combating got here as U.N. officers and assist teams urged nations to rethink their resolution to pause funding for the U.N. refugee company for Palestinians, an important supply of assist in Gaza. A minimum of 9 nations have paused funding following allegations by Israel {that a} dozen of UNRWA’s workers had been concerned within the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults on Israel.

Gaza Well being Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra mentioned 165 Palestinians had been killed and 290 wounded previously 24 hours, bringing the overall killed in Israeli strikes because the struggle started to 26,422. Officers within the Hamas-ruled territory don’t distinguish between militants and civilians of their depend.

Israel says it has misplaced 220 troopers within the floor offensive and has killed 9,000 Gaza fighters, a determine that Hamas has dismissed.

One strike on a home in a suburb of Gaza Metropolis killed eight individuals, well being officers mentioned.

As evening fell, Palestinian well being officers mentioned the variety of Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on a multi-floor home within the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza rose to twenty. The Israeli navy mentioned they had been checking the report.

In western Gaza Metropolis, residents mentioned Israel naval boats opened hearth on beachfront areas, however no accidents had been reported. In different components of the enclave, residents reported intensified combating amid heavier Israeli aerial assaults.

Israel launched a struggle it says goals to get rid of Hamas after the militants’ unprecedented cross-border assault, during which 1,200 individuals had been killed and 253 kidnapped, in response to Israeli officers.

The Israeli navy declared a closed navy zone on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after right-wing demonstrators and a few households of hostages tried to cease assist from going into the enclave, saying it was merely serving to Hamas.

Protests in Israel demanding that the federal government do extra to safe the hostages’ launch have been spreading, as little progress has been seen in ceasefire talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar since November amid disputes between Israel and Hamas.

HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FAILURE

Palestinian medics and residents mentioned Israel continued to bomb areas across the two major hospitals in Khan Younis, hindering efforts by rescue groups to answer determined calls from individuals caught within the Israeli bombardment.

“There’s a full failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals,” mentioned Qidra.

Israel says it’s taking steps to maintain hospitals operating and minimise civilian casualties. It accuses Hamas of working in densely populated areas, together with round hospitals, and utilizing civilians as human shields and has launched pictures and movies supporting this allegation, which the Islamist group denies.

The Palestinian Crimson Crescent Society mentioned in a press release that medical groups at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis can be unable to carry out surgical procedures as a result of oxygen provides had been depleted.

Extra households had been displaced from Khan Younis on Sunday. Some individuals took grime roads to get nearer to town of Rafah alongside the border with Egypt or Deir Al-Balah to the north. Others headed west to an space known as Al-Mawasi the place residents described being crammed right into a small space.

“It’s as crowded as it may get,” mentioned electrician Abu Raouf, a father of 4. “Individuals have misplaced their capacity to assume, their capacity to really feel, they’re transferring like robots, it’s only a matter of time earlier than Israel sends tanks into right here as properly, there is no such thing as a place protected.”

Reem Abu Tair left Khan Younis within the chilly with three kids, one in every of them an toddler.

“We managed to save lots of our lives, we escaped bombings and the destruction that’s surrounding us solely to finish up within the chilly. So, if a baby doesn’t die from the bombing, he’ll die from the chilly,” Abu Tair mentioned.

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi in DohaAdditional reporting by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa in Gaza and Ari Rabinovitch and Lee Marzel in JerusalemEditing by Frances Kerry, William Maclean)