Israeli tanks bombarded areas around two hospitals in Gaza's main southern city, Khan Younis, on Jan 25, forcing those already displaced into a new desperate scramble for safe shelter, in an offensive Israel says is targeting Hamas militants.
Gaza health officials said at least 50 Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis in 24 hours, including two children in an Israeli air strike that hit a residential home.
The city is now encircled by Israeli armoured forces and under almost non-stop aerial and ground fire, residents said, and a huge mushroom-like column of smoke billowed skyward from areas of Israeli military operations on Jan 25.
Palestinian medics said Israeli tanks had cut off and were shelling targets around the city's two main still-functioning hospitals, Nasser and Al-Amal, trapping medical teams, patients and displaced Gazans sheltering inside or nearby.
The Israeli military's siege of Khan Younis' main hospitals, in what it calls an escalating campaign to eliminate militants in Hamas' main south Gaza stronghold, has made it near impossible for rescue crews to reach the wounded or collect the dead.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is now squeezed into Khan Younis and towns just north and south of it, after being driven out of its northern half earlier in Israel's blitz of the Hamas-ruled territory, now in its fourth month.
This story is from the January 26, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the January 26, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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