At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the central and southern Gaza Strip yesterday, after Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders to Palestinians in areas of north of the enclave
Residents and displaced Palestinians fled Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya areas after Israeli military issued an evacuation order there.
The past 24 hours have been especially bloody in the central and southern parts of the Strip, mainly the city of Khan Younis. During this time, 27 people have been killed, the majority of them women and children.
In parallel clashes at the Askar refugee camp, Israeli gunfire injured five people, including two children aged 15 and 13, Wafa reported. Separate attacks by Israeli settlers near the illegal Beit El settlement north of Ramallah left a Palestinian woman injured.
In the occupied West-Bank, Israeli forces have stepped up attacks, in which at least seven Palestinians, including two children, were wounded, reports Al Jazeera online.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday that at least 39,699 people have been killed since the offensive began. The toll includes 22 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to ministry figures.
Israel has vowed to eliminate new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar with regional hostilities threatening to boil over as the Gaza offensive enters its 11th month.
The naming of Sinwar to lead the Palestinian group came as Israel steeled itself for potential Iranian retaliation over the killing of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh last week in Tehran, reports AFP.
Speaking at a military base on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “determined” to defend itself. French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu later on Wednesday to “avoid a cycle of reprisals”, after earlier delivering the same message to his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
On Thursday dozens of Palestinians rushed into Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to bid farewell to slain relatives before carrying them away for burials.
Reuters footage showed relatives moving out the bodies of their loved ones in plastic bags with names written on them, and holding special prayers before the funerals.
The Israeli military renewed evacuation orders to Palestinian residents in several districts in eastern Khan Younis, saying it would act forcefully against militants who had unleashed rockets from those areas.
The army posted the evacuation order on X, and residents said they had received text and audio messages.
