Israel-Hamas war Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s second largest city and its surroundings increased, rockets are being fired

A fragile week-long ceasefire during the current Israel-Hamas war broke down on 1 December 2023, with both sides blaming the other. According to CNN News, the Israeli military admitted that it launched more than 400 attacks on the Gaza Strip in the first 24 hours after the ceasefire broke down and expanded its campaign to South Gaza, in addition to continuing attacks on Northern Gaza. Hamas also recommended firing rockets at Israel’s border cities to signal its remaining ability to respond. Caught in the crossfire, this is tragic news for the hostages and civilians of one of the most populated areas in the world, trapped in a landlocked area with no safe zone left.

Israel stepped up its bombardment in and around Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest city, in a bloody new phase of the war in Gaza on Tuesday morning, as ambulances and private cars were seen taking wounded to local hospitals. Under US pressure to avoid widespread casualties, Israel has said the strikes are being carried out with greater precision. Israel is stepping up its offensive in southern Gaza after destroying much of the north. Aerial bombardments and ground attacks have already forced three-quarters of the region’s 2.3 million people to flee their homes.

Ambulances arrived at Nasir Hospital in Khan Younis overnight carrying dozens of injured people. At one point a car stopped and a man came out carrying a young boy covered in blood, whose arm had been blown off in the bombing. A woman outside the emergency department kept asking, “Where is the Red Cross?” …Where is the UN?” She said, ”Since 10 p.m. my children are still under the debris.” Satellite images taken on Sunday showed tanks and soldiers gathering outside Khan Younis, which It is a recent target of offensive attacks and was home to more than 400,000 people before the war. Just as Israel had asked people to leave the northern areas, it has ordered the evacuation of people from about two dozen surrounding areas instead of the entire region.

Most of Gaza’s population is already confined to UN shelters and family homes in the south, so there are few places left to be evacuated. Israel has prevented people who fled the north at the beginning of the war from returning there. Palestinians said Israel continues to attack the area, leaving no area where they feel safe and many fearing that if they leave their homes they will never be allowed to return. .

Israel says that to prevent a repeat of an attack like October 7, Hamas’s extensive military infrastructure must be destroyed and it must be removed from power. The surprise attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 men, women and children hostage. The Israeli military says it makes every effort to protect civilians and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

The Israeli military said Hamas fights in densely populated residential areas where it has built tunnels, bunkers, rocket launchers and sniper positions. Despite weeks of relentless bombardment, Hamas leaders in Gaza were able to negotiate complex ceasefires and last week organize the release of more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian militants have also continued their rocket attacks into Israel before and after the ceasefire.

The health ministry in Gaza said the death toll in the territory since October 7 had crossed 15,890 and more than 42,000 people were injured. An Israeli military officer also gave the same number of dead in Gaza on Monday. The official said at least 15,000 people were killed, including 5,000 terrorists. However, he did not tell from where the army got these figures. The army said 84 of its soldiers were killed in the Gaza offensive.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday it was too early to pass judgment on Israel’s campaign but that it was unusual for a modern military to identify precise areas of expected ground maneuver and ask people to move out, as Isradal has done in Khan Yunis. The United States has pledged support to Israel since the October 7 attacks, including providing arms and other aid to the country. Now approximately two million people (the majority of the region’s population) live in 230 square kilometers of southern and central Gaza.

According to evacuation maps released by the Israeli army, the army has ordered the evacuation of the population from about 62 square kilometers of Khan Yunis and its surrounding area since the end of the ceasefire. Satellite images from Sunday analyzed early Tuesday by The Associated Press (AP) showed about 150 Israeli tanks, armored troops and other vehicles six kilometers north of the center of Khan Yunis.

The army did not respond to a request for comment. Due to continuous bombing near Khan Yunis, there were repeated flashes of lightning in the sky of the city on Monday evening. Mohammed Aghalkurdi, an aid worker with a medical aid group for Palestinians in Khan Yunis, said Israeli attacks have increased sharply in the past few days. He said that due to people fleeing from here, the surrounding areas and shelter sites are becoming vacant. Leaflets dropped by Israeli forces warned people to head south towards the Egyptian border. However they are unable to leave Gaza, as both Israel and neighboring Egypt refuse to accept any refugees.