Attacks surge as Khan Younis battles intensify
- Israeli forces continue tank-and-drone strikes on Khan Younis city with at least 210 people killed over the past 24 hours.
- Mass panic as Israeli forces issue evacuation orders for about 513,000 people crammed into an area in southern Gaza.
Israeli forces isolate Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis: Health Ministry
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says the Israeli army has isolated the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
The ministry confirmed the hospital is in urgent need of medical supplies, food and fuel, noting there are about 400 dialysis patients who cannot access treatment.
Hundreds of wounded people, sick patients and maternity cases are facing serious complications as a result of the lack of access to the hospital, the ministry added.
‘Mass casualties’ after attack on Khan Younis shelter causes fire: UNRWA
Thomas White, the director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, says that a building complex sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people in Khan Younis has caught fire after it was hit amid escalating fighting.
“Safe access to/from the centre has been denied for two days,” he said in a post on X, adding that people remain “trapped”.
Israeli troops restricting movement of PRCS staff in Khan Younis: Organisation
The Palestine Red Crescent Society says Israeli soldiers are surrounding its teams inside the organisation’s headquarters and at El Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.
The troops are “enforcing restrictions on movement around both the building and the hospital”, it said in a post on X.
Six Palestinians killed in Khan Younis
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that six Palestinians have been killed and 11 others wounded in an Israeli bombing that targeted various areas in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
A correspondent also reported Israeli shelling and clashes in the central and western areas of Khan Younis.
About 50 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours due to the Israeli bombing on the city.
Supporters of captives try to prevent aid from entering Gaza
There are reports about Israeli protesters at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing to the Gaza Strip preventing humanitarian aid trucks from entering.
The demonstrators are members of a group known as Order Nine Movement who call for stopping aid from entering Gaza, including medical supplies, until all Israeli captives are released.
It is important to point out that the amount of humanitarian supplies that have been entering Gaza is so little compared to the actual need.
It has been reduced within the past few weeks from 200 trucks a day to 80 trucks and even those go through a lengthy process of clearance and security checks, causing further delay in the aid reaching those desperately in need.
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Israel delaying aid into Gaza as ‘pressure’ tactic: Egypt president
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza is open 24/7 but Israeli procedures hamper the entrance of aid.
“This is part of how they exert pressure on the issue of releasing the hostages,” el-Sisi said.
Earlier, Israeli protesters – including family members of captives held in Gaza – blocked the entrance of the Israel-controlled Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in an attempt to prevent aid trucks from entering Gaza.
They don’t want any humanitarian relief going into the war-ravaged territory until captives are released.
‘Israel’s Victory’ conference to discuss settlement-building in Gaza
Hardline Israeli ministers – led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party – will hold a conference on Sunday in West Jerusalem to discuss the possibility of building settlements in Gaza after the war.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the conference, titled “Israel’s Victory”, will be attended by thousands of Israelis from religious and nationalist movements, including 20 ministers and members of the Knesset.
“The talk is about a conference for a coalition of settlement organisations in the Gaza Strip, which is led by the head of the settlement council in the West Bank, Yossi Dagan, and the Nahala settlement movement,” the newspaper reported.
Iran’s president in Turkey for talks on how to ‘contain the conflict’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has flown to Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on how to prevent the escalation of Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Iran and Turkey have a common position in supporting the Palestinian people and the resistance of the oppressed,” Raisi said before boarding his plane.
Raisi’s visit comes with the war enflaming tensions and escalating fighting across the Middle East. Analysts said the Gaza conflict has helped put regional disputes on the back burner and is forcing the two leaders to seek a joint regional approach.
“It is possible that Raisi and Erdogan might declare some symbolic measure about Palestine out of the meeting,” Clemson University Professor Arash Azizi said. “But I think their focus will be mostly on how to contain the conflict and make sure it doesn’t expand further – something that Ankara and Tehran both want.”
WHO: Seven of 24 hospitals ‘partially operating’ in northern Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) says seven out of 24 hospitals are “partially functioning” in northern Gaza and suffering a shortage of personnel and supplies.
The facilities are “without enough specialised medical staff to manage the volume and range of injuries, nor sufficient medicines and medical supplies, fuel, clean water, or food for patients or staff”, the WHO said in a statement.
It delivered 19,000 litres (5,000 gallons) of fuel to al-Shifa Hospital on Tuesday after facing delays at a checkpoint and on damaged roads.
“Essential services such as basic laboratory and radiological facilities remain operational along with emergency care, a surgical unit with three operation theaters, post-operative care, and a dialysis unit,” it said, adding the hospital’s primary oxygen plant has been destroyed.
Settlers carried out ‘120 attacks’ in occupied West Bank in January
The Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission has recorded 120 cases of attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and their properties, including the recent killing of Palestinian-American teenager Tawfiq Ajaq in the village of al-Mazra’a Asharqiya, near Ramallah.
The chairman of the commission, Moayyad Shaaban, said the collusion of the Israeli army and the settlers has resulted in more than 35 attacks by settlers within the army, in addition to more than 23 attacks that were carried out under the auspices and protection of the army.
“The increase in the rate of settlers’ attacks in the last week comes in light of the reassurances they receive from the political echelon of the Israeli occupation government, which provides them with protection and immunity from any imminent trials or penalties that may be imposed on them,” Shaaban said.
