Israeli army ‘encircles’ Khan Younis after 24 soldiers killed in Gaza

The Israeli military said that its ground forces have “encircled” the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip after 24 of its soldiers were killed in the enclave in its largest single-day toll in the three-month war, reports Al Jazeera.

“Over the past day, troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area,” the military said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Ground troops engaged in close-quarters combat, directed [air] strikes and used intelligence to coordinate fire, resulting in the elimination of dozens of terrorists,” it said of the attacks on Gaza’s second-largest city, says the report.

Gaza has been reeling from an extreme shortage of food, water and medical supplies, further escalating the humanitarian crisis.

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Khan Younis was “designated as a safe zone for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who evacuated from the northern parts and Gaza City at the start of the war”, Mahmoud said, adding that it “is now a scene of much suffering and devastation”, reported Al Jazeera.

Around 65 people were killed in the attack on Khan Younis by Israeli forces on Monday.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 25,490 people have been killed and 63,000 wounded in Israeli bombardment of Gaza since October 7. The death toll from Hamas’s attacks in southern Israel stands at 1,139.

The few partially functioning hospitals in the territory including the Nasser Hospital and El Amal City Hospital in Khan Younis, were under “extreme danger” from Israeli attacks, said the Gaza health ministry.

“The buildings of the Nasser Medical Complex are exposed to shrapnel, endangering the lives of patients, staff and displaced people,” the ministry said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.

“The Israeli occupation places Nasser Medical Complex and El Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in extreme danger,” it said, calling for “urgent intervention” to safeguard both facilities.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which operates El Amal Hospital, on Tuesday, said Israeli drones were targeting anyone moving around the facility. It said it was difficult for the ambulances to reach the injured and cited “gunfire and repeated targeting of displaced individuals” in posts on X.

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