The war between Israel and Hamas has entered its eighth week, with no sign of a lasting ceasefire in sight.
The conflict, which erupted after Hamas launched deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, has claimed the lives of more than 16,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children.
The UN human rights chief has called for an urgent cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages, saying that Palestinians in Gaza are living in “utter, deepening horror” and are being “relentlessly bombarded” and “collectively punished” by Israel.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and free 138 hostages still held in Gaza, but has faced global criticism for its disproportionate use of force and its blockade of the enclave, which has caused severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicines.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, forcing already displaced civilians to flee again. Witnesses said Israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers rolled into the city, while the military wing of Hamas reported fighting with Israeli forces east of the city.
One local resident, Amal Mahdi, who survived an overnight Israeli strike on Khan Yunis, said: “We are devastated. We need someone to find us a solution so we can get out of this situation.”
Much of northern Gaza has already been reduced to rubble by fierce fighting and bombardment, displacing 1.9 million people according to UN figures. With Israel now focusing on the south, the streets of Khan Yunis were almost empty early Wednesday as residents sought shelter from shelling and artillery fire, while the dead and wounded continued to pour into the city’s hospitals.
The Israeli army said it had struck about 250 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours and that troops had found a major arms depot “in the heart of a civilian population”. It said the depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers, dozens of anti-tank missiles, explosives and drones, and was found near a clinic and school in an undisclosed location in northern Gaza.
Sources in another Palestinian militant group said their fighters were battling Israeli troops early Wednesday in a bid to prevent them from breaking into Khan Yunis. The Hamas media office said dozens were killed and injured in heavy strikes east of the city.
Many civilians fled to Khan Yunis when Israel ordered them to evacuate the north of the densely populated Gaza Strip earlier in the offensive. Hassan al-Qadi, a Khan Yunis resident displaced to Rafah, said: “The whole city is suffering from destruction and relentless shelling. Many are homeless and some are searching for their missing children.”
International aid groups have condemned the succession of orders to flee from one area to another, saying civilians were running out of options. Israel’s army has published a map it said was intended to enable Gazans to “evacuate safely”, but the UN said it was “a joke” and that there was “no safe place in Gaza”.
Fighting resumed after the collapse on Friday of a Qatar-mediated truce that saw scores of Israeli and other hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The war has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict, with near-daily exchanges of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah across Israel’s border with Lebanon and a surge of deadly violence in the occupied West Bank.
On Wednesday, Israel said a missile fired at the Red Sea town of Eilat “was successfully intercepted” after sirens blared in the resort.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops raided the northern Faraa refugee camp early Wednesday, sparking clashes that killed two people, one of them aged 16, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Palestinian authorities say more than 250 Palestinians have been killed during the current conflict by Israeli fire or settler attacks in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
