Six people were killed yesterday in fighting around a UN shelter for Palestinian refugees in Khan Younis. This is what the head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarine, said in a message on X. The Israeli army says it knows nothing of an attack on the shelter.
The Israeli army has declared the southern town of Khan Younis the center of the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying it is a key Hamas stronghold. Hamas political leader Yayha Sinwar, among others, is said to be in the city. According to the army, the city is now surrounded. An army spokesman said more than 100 militants had been killed in western Khan Younis in the past 24 hours. Israel generally does not report civilian deaths.
Fighting is becoming increasingly fierce, especially around the hospitals in the city. According to Israel, Hamas fighters would use the hospitals for their military operations. It is so dangerous around the Nasser Hospital, the largest operating hospital in the Gaza Strip, that bodies have to be buried on the hospital grounds, Palestinian sources told Reuters.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also reports that they have lost contact with medical staff at another hospital in the city, Al-Amal Hospital. Ambulances from the organization would no longer be able to enter the city due to the fighting.
According to Lazzarine, civilians, patients, and refugees are stuck in hospitals in Khan Younis. Israel has called on citizens to go to the ‘humanitarian zone’ in Al-Mawasi, a coastal strip west of Khan Younis. On Monday, the Israeli army carried out another raid on Al-Khair hospital there, the Gaza Health Ministry told Reuters.
Thom Canters
