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8 dead in Israeli attack on Gaza Khan Yunis after evacuation order

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Palestinian territories:

Israeli forces carried out deadly attacks on southern Gaza on Tuesday after the army renewed orders for Palestinians to leave areas near the besieged territory’s border with Israel and Egypt.

Witnesses reported heavy bombing and artillery fire around Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza, from which Israeli forces withdrew in early April after months of devastating fighting.

A hospital in the city said eight people were killed and more than 30 others injured in the shelling.

The bombing came after a rocket attack on southern Israel claimed responsibility by the Islamic Jihad group, which fights alongside Hamas.

This was followed by orders to evacuate most of the areas east of the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, including the cities of Al-Qarara and Bani Suhaila.

Ahmad Najjar, a resident of Bani Suhaila, said the Israeli order had caused “fear and extreme concern” and that “many people would be displaced.”

Six consecutive days of heavy fighting followed a similar evacuation order issued last week for the Gaza neighborhood of Shujaiya.

An AFP correspondent reported artillery shelling in the north of the country on Tuesday, and witnesses said heavy gunfire continued.

The military said its forces were deployed in Shujaiya, in central Gaza, and in Rafah, where planes carried out attacks and soldiers ambushed and killed “an armed terrorist group” in a car.

Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force has “attacked approximately 30 terror targets” throughout Gaza, a military statement said.

In Shujaiya, Palestinian militants were “eliminated and dozens of terrorists’ above-ground and underground infrastructure facilities were destroyed, including tunnel shafts,” it said.

‘Gear down’

In central Gaza, the Nuseirat refugee camp was hit, according to witnesses, where the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least one death, a child.

Other parts of the Gaza Strip remained rocked by ongoing fighting nearly nine months after the war began, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7.

Months of repeatedly interrupted talks on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages have so far made little progress, even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declared that the “intensive phase” of the war was coming to an end.

“We have heard that the Israelis are talking about a significant reduction in their operations in the Gaza Strip,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

“It remains to be seen.”

The latest order to leave parts of the southern Gaza Strip followed the evacuation of Rafah nearly two months ago, which signaled the start of a long-feared Israeli ground offensive.

The fighting that has since broken out has again led to the flight of many Palestinians and the closure of an important aid crossing.

The United Nations and aid agencies have expressed concern about the dire humanitarian crisis and famine caused by the war and Israeli siege for the 2.4 million people in Gaza.

The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the war left 1,195 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli figures.

The activists also captured 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in the Gaza Strip. According to the army, 42 of them are dead.

At least 37,900 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive to wipe out Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israeli authorities on Monday released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital – the territory’s largest medical complex – and dozens of other detainees and returned them to Gaza for treatment.

After his release, Abu Salmiya said he had suffered “severe torture” during his detention.

“Several detainees died in interrogation centers and were denied food and medicine,” he said.

“Try peace”

Israel accuses Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals as a cover for military operations. The Gaza militants deny the accusations.

Netanyahu, who is facing growing anger among protesters and pressure from hardliners among his coalition partners over his handling of the conflict, criticized the release, which he said took place without his knowledge.

The Israeli prime minister said Abu Salmiya “belongs in prison” because Israeli hostages were “murdered and held” in the now-devastated hospital he runs.

Successive Israeli attacks have left large parts of Al-Shifa in ruins.

The director’s return to Gaza was “a serious mistake and a moral failure,” Netanyahu said.

According to Abu Salmiya, Israel did not bring any charges against him during his seven-month detention.

Israel’s domestic intelligence service Shin Bet said the release was intended to “free up space in prisons.”

The released men “pose a lesser threat” and were not directly involved in attacks on Israeli civilians, it said.

In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, thousands attended an event on Monday calling for an end to the war and “a better reality” for Israelis and Palestinians, said activist Ibrahim Abu Ahmad.

“We can start making peace at any time,” said Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari.

“We’ve tried to make peace before, and we weren’t good at it. So what? We’re not particularly successful at making war, either, and that doesn’t stop us from trying… It’s time to try peace again.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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