An Israeli strike killed at least nine people in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian health officials said Tuesday, less than a day after the Israeli attack. to give the order to evacuate of parts of the city prior to a likely ground operation.
The overnight strike hit a house near the European Hospital, which is in the zone Israel says must be evacuated. After initial evacuation orders, the military said the facility itself was not included, but its director says most patients and medics have already been moved.
Sam Rose, the director of planning at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said Tuesday that the agency believes there are about 250,000 people in the evacuation zone — more than 10% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million — including many who fled fighting earlier. He said another 50,000 people living just outside the zone may also choose to leave because of their proximity to the fighting. Evacuees have been told to seek refuge in a sprawling tent camp along the coast that is already overcrowded and has few basic services.
Israel started the war in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on October 7in which militants invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping about 250.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 37,900 people in Gaza, Israeli authorities said. Ministry of Healthwho makes no distinction between combatants and civilians in his census. The war has slowed the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and the people there are now completely dependent on aid. The UN’s highest court has concluded that there is a “reasonable risk of genocide” in Gaza —an accusation that Israel strongly denies.
Currently:
— Israel Orders Palestinians to Flee from Khan Younislikely indicating a new attack on southern Gaza City.
—The President of Turkey accuses opposition of inciting racism after anti-Syrian riots break out.
— Lawsuit accuses Iran, Syria and North Korea of providing support for Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7.
— Iranian presidential candidates accuse each other of having no plan or experience prior to the elections.
— Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s the latest news:
2 Israeli soldiers killed and a third wounded in fighting in central Gaza, army says
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says two of its soldiers have been killed and a third soldier seriously wounded during fighting in central Gaza. It did not provide details about the fighting in a statement issued Tuesday.
The militant group Islamic Jihad said on Monday it had shelled Israeli supply lines in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza. The army carved out the corridor, which runs from the border to the sea, early in the war to separate northern Gaza from the south.
It was not possible to independently confirm the reports of the battle from either side.
According to the army, 674 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the war began, more than half of them in the Hamas attack on October 7 that sparked the fighting.
At least 9 killed in Israeli attack in southern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Palestinian health officials say an Israeli strike has killed at least nine people in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
The strike last night came after Israel gave the order to evacuate parts of the city were seized on Monday in preparation for a ground operation.
Reports from Nasser Hospital, where the dead and wounded were taken, said three children and two women were among the dead. Associated Press reporters at the hospital counted the bodies.
The attack hit a house near the European hospital, which is in the zone Israel says must be evacuated. After initial evacuation orders, the military said the facility itself was not included, but its director says most patients and medics have already been moved.
The army said it had carried out retaliatory strikes after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of about 20 projectiles into Israel from Khan Younis on Monday. There were no reports of casualties or damage from the rocket attack. The main UN agency providing aid in Gaza said the latest evacuation orders apply to about 250,000 people, many of whom have already been displaced. That is more than 10% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
About 250,000 people are living in the latest mass evacuation zone ordered by Israel, a UNRWA official says
BEIRUT — A United Nations official says about 250,000 people live in areas of southern Gaza that Israel controls has ordered a new mass evacuation.
The Israeli military on Monday ordered new evacuations in and around the town of Khan Younis, which has caused widespread devastation during an offensive earlier this year. It was the third mass evacuation ordered in less than three months.
Sam Rose, the director of planning at the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said Tuesday that the agency believes there are about 250,000 people in the evacuation zone — more than 10 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million — including many who fled fighting earlier. He said another 50,000 people living just outside the zone may also choose to leave because of their proximity to the fighting. Evacuees have been told to seek refuge in a sprawling tent camp along the coast that is already overcrowded and has few basic services.
Issam Shahwan, the director of the European Hospital in the evacuation zone, said the facility was nearly evacuated, with the last patients and medics waiting to be transported to other medical facilities. After issuing the initial evacuation order, the military clarified that the European Hospital did not need to evacuate.
Palestinian militants fired a barrage of about 20 projectiles into Israel from Khan Younis on Monday, without causing any casualties or damage.
More than a million Palestinians fled the southern city of Rafah in May after Israel launched operations there. Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas of Gaza where they previously operated. Palestinians and aid groups say nowhere in the area feels safe.
Liora Argamani, mother of a freed hostage, dies at 61, less than a month after being reunited with her daughter
JERUSALEM — The mother of a high-profile Israeli hostage who was recently freed from captivity in Gaza during a rescue operation has died, Ichilov Hospital said in a brief statement Tuesday.
Liora Argamani, 61, who had stage 4 brain tumors, had pleaded for the release of her daughter Noa, saying she wanted to see her only child before she died.
Noa Argamani, who became an icon of the hostage crisis after a video of the October 7 Hamas attack showed her being forced onto a motorcycle and shouting at her captors not to kill her, was released along with three other hostages in early June during an Israeli military operation in central Gaza. Palestinian health officials said at least 274 Palestinians were killed.
The two were reunited, but Yaakov Argamani, Noa’s father, said Liora was in a “very difficult situation” and barely noticed seeing her daughter, Israeli media reported.
Hamas took about 250 hostages in its surprise attack on Israel and still holds about 120 after most of the rest were released during a ceasefire in November. About a third of those still held are presumed dead. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack. Israel’s ongoing offensive, launched in response, has killed at least 37,900 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, who make no distinction between civilians and combatants in their count.
