The Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip continued for the 109th day, as violent battles between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation army intensified in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The occupation army also launched a fierce bombing campaign against civilians, killing and injuring dozens.
The city of Khan Yunis witnessed a new wave of displacement towards Rafah, the last refuge for the displaced in the far south of the Gaza Strip after they had to flee the fire of bombing and war several times in a bitter journey with an unknown end.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli occupation army committed 22 massacres against civilians in the past 24 hours, killing 195 and injuring 354. The ministry confirmed that the death toll of the Israeli aggression had risen to 25,490, while the number of injured had reached 63,354.
The Doctors Without Borders organization expressed its concern about the lack of safe ways to evacuate the medical team and patients from Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, stressing the ongoing severe bombardment in the southern and northern parts of the city since last night.
The organisation reported that the staff of Nasser Hospital felt the ground shaking beneath them, as a result of the continuous bombing that caused panic in the hospital.
Moreover, the World Food Program warned that the risk of famine still exists in some areas of the Gaza Strip, stressing that the amount of aid that crossed from the south to the north of the Strip was very low. The spokesperson for the WFP in the Middle East, Abeer Etifa, said that the program faced difficulties in reaching places that needed food aid, especially in northern Gaza.
UN organizations had previously confirmed that the measures imposed by the occupation hindered the arrival of aid to the northern Gaza Strip, which increased the spread of hunger among the population.
On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation army announced the killing of 21 officers and soldiers during the ongoing battles in the central Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of soldiers killed to 556, including 221 since the beginning of the ground invasion.
On Monday, Israeli media reported that the occupation army began expanding its ground operation in Khan Yunis. Later, these media outlets described Monday as the most difficult day of fighting in Gaza since the start of the ground war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and War Council member Benny Gantz expressed their sadness over the killing of 21 soldiers in the Maghazi camp operation in the central Gaza Strip on Monday, saying that they “bow their heads to those who fell in Gaza,” and that they will not stop striving to achieve victory.
Galant also said that Israel suffered a strong blow on Monday with the killing of 24 soldiers, 3 of them in battles in the southern Gaza Strip, adding that they were following Hezbollah, which continued to provoke Israel in the north, as he put it.
For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced a specific event in the fighting axis west of the city and said in a statement that Israeli warplanes bombed a Merkava tank with missiles, which led to its destruction along with its passengers. Resistance fighters responded to an attempt to rescue it after it had been targeted earlier by a “Yassin 105” missile.
Al-Qassam said on Tuesday that it detonated a pre-rigged room with an Israeli foot force, killing 3 soldiers and wounding many others west of the city of Khan Yunis.
The brigades also announced that it had targeted 3 Israeli bulldozers with Tandom and “Al-Yassin 105” anti-armor shells, west of the city of Khan Yunis as well. It had said earlier today that it had destroyed an Israeli troop carrier in the city, which is witnessing fierce battles between the resistance and the occupation forces.
Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, announced that it bombed with a barrage of mortar shells, a position of Israeli occupation army soldiers and vehicles, in the western camp area in Khan Yunis, on Tuesday morning.
Earlier Tuesday, the Al-Quds Brigades said that it blew up an Israeli tank with a “Thaqib” device, in the vicinity of the Japanese neighborhood, west of Khan Yunis.
Regarding the prisoner exchange deal negotiations, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed a new Israeli proposal that includes four main points: the release of prisoners held by Hamas other than soldiers, a long-term ceasefire, a tactical withdrawal of the occupation army from several areas in the Gaza Strip, and the release of several Palestinian prisoners from occupation prisons.
