In a report by Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine and the public relations office of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported that the Israeli ground forces’ operation began after Wednesday evening. After killing 40 people and injuring dozens of Palestinians in Gaza Khan Younis and its surrounding areas, Israeli forces advanced towards Gaza City, the main city of the valley. 22 more people were killed in their operation there.
In addition, Israeli troops raided a school in Nuseirat, the largest refugee camp in Palestine, on Wednesday night. Another 3 Palestinians were killed and 15 wounded in that operation. According to Israeli forces, the school in Nuseirat was used as a command center by Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and its allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters ambushed Israeli territory, killing 1,200 people and taking 242 hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an operation in Gaza that day to respond to the attack and rescue the hostages, which is still ongoing.
According to the number of casualties on Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that 41,689 Palestinians have lost their lives and 96,625 have been injured in the Israeli forces’ operation in Gaza for almost a year.
Qatar has been one of the mediators working on a ceasefire deal in Gaza, although talks have stalled in recent days.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 41,689 people have been killed by Israeli aggression in nearly a year.
Israeli tanks carried out raids on several areas in eastern and central Khan Younis before partially retreating, leaving at least 40 people killed and dozens wounded.
Meanwhile in Gaza City, at least 22 Palestinians were killed in two airstrikes. One Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City killed 17 people, while another hit the Al-Amal Orphan Society, which also houses displaced persons, killing at least five others, the medics said.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat Girls School, where displaced Palestinian families were sheltering, killed three people and wounded 15.
The escalation came after Iran launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Lebanon, and Israel vowed a “painful response”.
Palestinans in the Gaza Strip, locked in nearly a year of war with Israel, celebrated as they watcheddozens of rockets en route to Israel. Some of those rockets fell in the Palestinian enclave after being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defences, but caused no human losses, witnesses said.
Starting his first trip to Qatar as president, Pezeshkian said his country wanted “security and peace”, but Israel had triggered an escalation by assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“Europeans and the US said if we do not act, there will be a peace in Gaza in one week. We waited forthem to have peace but they increased their killing,” he said.
Pezeshkian told state television that the first goal in Doha was to discuss bilateral ties and sign agreements with the Qatari government. He will also attend a summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.
“The second goal is to discuss how Asian countries can prevent Israeli crimes in the region…and prevent enemies from causing uproar in the Middle East,” Pezeshkian said.
