Israeli tank shelling and air strikes killed at least 37 Palestinians near Khan Younis, Gaza medics said on Monday (22), after Israel issued new evacuation orders for some neighborhoods.
The Palestinians were killed by tank fire in the town of Bani Suhaila and other locations east of the southern enclave city of Khan Younis, and the area was also bombed from the air, they said.
Gaza’s health ministry said the dead included several women and children and that dozens of others were wounded by Israeli fire. The Gaza ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its death toll tally.
Some 400,000 people live in the targeted areas and dozens of families have started to flee their homes, Palestinian officials said, adding that they were not given time to leave before the Israeli strikes began.
Some families fled on donkey carts, others on foot, carrying mattresses and other belongings.
At Nasser Hospital, some people stood outside the morgue to say goodbye to dead relatives.
“We are tired, we are tired in Gaza, every day our children are martyred, every day, every moment. This is the blood of our children, it has not dried yet,” said Ahmed Sammour, who lost several relatives in Israeli bombings in eastern Khan Younis.
“Nobody told us to leave. They brought down four floors on the civilians… and the bodies they could reach, they took to the freezer (morgue),” Sammour added.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes east of Khan Younis.
Withdrawal orders
Earlier, an Israeli military statement said the new withdrawal orders were given due to renewed attacks by Palestinian militants, including rockets fired from targeted areas east of Khan Younis. The orders did not include health institutions, the Palestinians said.
The military said it was adjusting the boundaries of a humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi – west of Khan Younis – to keep civilians away from areas of fighting with Palestinian militants led by Hamas.
The Palestinians, the United Nations and international aid agencies have said there is no longer any safe place in Gaza. In early July, dozens of Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli strikes in the al-Mawasi area, which has been designated for humanitarian purposes.
Israel has claimed that these strikes targeted armed militants, including some of Hamas’ top military commanders. Palestinian officials have called those allegations false and said they were used to justify the attacks.
Later on Monday, health authorities at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis urged residents to donate blood due to the large number of victims being rushed to the medical center.
“A family, including children, was torn apart while they were sleeping,” said a man who arrived at the hospital in an ambulance with the bodies.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after the militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an attack on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli records.
The death toll among Palestinians in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then has reached at least 39,006, Gaza health authorities said.
Almost the entire population of Gaza has been displaced amid the new Israeli offensive
Source: CNN Brasil
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