2023-12-04 16:03:25
Time.news – Israel extends its ground offensive into the devastated Gaza Strip, forcing the Palestinian population to make massive displacements. Cornered by the offensive, tens of thousands of Gazans are moving from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, to Rafah, near the border with Egypt. They flee from the bombings but head towards a disaster area from a humanitarian point of view, where overcrowding and the lack of the most basic services are generating epidemic.
It’s war again
Il return to open warfare after the breakdown of the truce between Israel and Hamas it had ripple effects in a region on the brink of a wider conflagration. Since the truce expired last Friday, fighting between Hamas and advancing Israeli troops has resumed in Gaza, as have rocket launches by militants towards Israel and Israeli air strikes on Palestinian territory.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to bomb Gaza overnight. I am 200 Hamas targets hit, according to Israel, which reported the discovery of tunnels under a school in the northern part of the Strip. In the south, however, Khan Younis, in the south, where many Palestinians fled in the first weeks of the war on Israel’s orders, is one of the targets of the latest raids.
Al Jazeera reported “intense shelling” in the eastern part of the city in the early hours of today. The Unicef spokesperson spoke of “relentless bombing”. Israeli raids and continuous artillery fire were also reported in the North, in the al-Shujaiya and al-Tuffah neighborhoods of Gaza city.
Khan Younis in the crosshairs
Israel believes the Hamas leadership is based in Khan Younis and has ordered people in and around some areas of the city to evacuate. Locals said the military dropped leaflets calling Khan Younis “a dangerous combat zone” and ordering them to move to the border city of Rafah or to a coastal area in the southwest.
Yesterday evening, the IDF spokesman, Daniel Hagarihad announced that the army is expanding the ground offensive to “all areas of the Gaza Strip”.
Israel has vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the terrorist group’s October 7 attacks that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities. An estimated 240 more people, including children and elderly people, were taken hostage in Gaza.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 15,523 people have been killed since October 7, more than half of them women and children. The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) estimates the number of internally displaced people at around 1.8 million people (around 75% of Gaza’s population).
As part of a truce brokered by Qatar with the support of Egypt and the United States, 80 Israeli hostages were freed, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. More than two dozen other hostages were also freed from Gaza.
With 137 hostages still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli military, Hamas has ruled out further releases until a permanent ceasefire is agreed.
Netanyahu will meet the families of the hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected accusations from families of Hamas hostages that the government is ignoring them and said a meeting with them has already been scheduled for Wednesday.
“A meeting between the war cabinet and the families of the hostages had already been scheduled for Wednesday,” read a statement from his office reprinted by the Times of Israel. “Due to the families’ request, we are evaluating the possibility of bringing it forward.”
The families of the hostages still remaining in Gaza have asked to meet with all members of the war cabinet, warning that if they refuse they will intensify protests against the government. As local media reported, the families – who said they were “humiliated” – had asked for a meeting two days ago, after the breakdown of the truce and the suspension of the release of the hostages, but the government seems to have responded only yesterday.
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