Israel war on Gaza : Residents flee Khan Younis amid artillery attacks
- Hundreds of Palestinian patients forced to flee the European Hospital and tent camps for the displaced in Khan Younis have emptied as the Israeli army ordered an immediate evacuation of eastern areas of Gaza’s second-largest city.
- The latest mass evacuation order comes as Israeli tanks and fierce fighting trap Palestinian civilians in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and the Shujayea neighbourhood in northern Gaza City.
Israeli forces arrest 22 in occupied West Bank
At least 22 Palestinians have been arrested in areas across the occupied West Bank in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Authority says.
Israeli raids in the Palestinian territory have become a nearly daily occurrence since the war started last October. More than 9,400 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since October 7, according to the prisoners’ watchdog.
“They are blindfolded for hours, even 16 hours in the cold or in the heat, and then they are told ‘We have nothing on you’,” she added.
Israel killed over 8,600 Palestinian students in Gaza and West Bank since October 7: Ministry
At least 8,572 Palestinian students have been killed in Gaza and 100 in the occupied West Bank since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, Wafa reports citing the Education Ministry.
The report also said:
- At least 497 teachers and administrators were killed and 3,402 were injured in Gaza and the West Bank;
- More than 350 government schools, universities, and 65 UNRWA-run school buildings were bombed and vandalised in Gaza;
- About 620,000 students in Gaza cannot enrol in schools, while most of the students suffer from psychological trauma.
Netanyahu is leading Israel to all-out regional war: Retired Israeli general
Retired Israeli General Itzhak Brik has called on Israelis to wake up before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi embroiled the country in an all-out regional war that would wreak havoc on Israel.
Brik said in an opinion article in Israel’s Maariv newspaper that “the leadership of the country is in a state of madness, and such a decisive decision regarding its fate – that is, to fight a war against Hezbollah by air, land and sea – is in the hands of the three who have completely lost their decision-making ability and responsibility for what is happening around them”.
“During the eight months of the war in Gaza, the three have already made decisions that could set the entire Middle East on fire and destroy Israel,” he said. “We should not keep the decision to decide the fate of the country in their hands if we want to live, because they will not lead us to a safe shore.”
Logically, he said, Netanyahu, Gallant and Halevi should be denied a war driver’s licence, just as a drunken driver is denied a driver’s licence after crossing a red light several times and causing a fatal accident is only a matter of time.
The retired Israeli general referred to the decisions the three have made since the beginning of the war, including their “decision to attack the Iranian consulate in Syria, an attack that led to the launch of more than 300 ballistic missiles, as well as drones and cruise missiles. A direct confrontation with Iran could have led to a regional war and even a world war.”
Smotrich slams decision to supply electricity to desalination plant in Gaza
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has criticised the Israeli government decision to supply electricity to a sewage and water desalination plant in Gaza.
Earlier this morning, Israeli media reported that the decision came on humanitarian grounds to prevent the outbreak of disease in the besieged Palestinian enclave which could pose a threat to Israel.
“We are restoring Gaza with our own hands … I call on Netanyahu to stop this folly,” Smotrich said on X.
Number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza rises to 674
The leader of the illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank has announced the death of Major Nadav Noler of Israel’s 8th Brigade of the 121st Battalion in Gaza.
Yonatan Kuznitz, the head of the Karnei Shomron Council, was quoted by the Israeli media as saying Noler, who was from Karnei Shomron, was killed during Monday night’s fighting, without elaborating on the exact location. The Israeli media later reported that he was killed in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor.
“The Karnei Shomron community mourns and grieves over the death of Major (Res) Nadav Elhanan Noler, a soldier in the 121st Battalion, 8th Brigade. We bow our heads and share in the heavy sorrow of dear Noler family. Details of the funeral date will be announced later. Of blessed memory,” he said.
Later, the Israeli media, citing a message of the Israeli army to the affected families, reported that another soldier – Captain Eyal Abneon of the Nahal Brigade – also died with Noler.
The latest deaths raised the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the Gaza war began in October to 674.
Israel wants to exhaust Palestinians with evacuation orders
Israel’s evacuation order from the east of Khan Younis shows its inability to achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas and its intent to exhaust the population, says Luciano Zaccara, a professor of Gulf politics at Qatar University’s Gulf Studies Center.
“This demonstrates that they cannot win the war because they wanted to eliminate Hamas physically and politically but so far the group is still there, this is why they need to move people, in order to chase them,” Zaccara told Al Jazeera.
“It also proves that Israel wants to win this war by exhausting the people,” he said, referring to several previous evacuation orders from different locations in the past nine months of war.
“In this way, it creates much more trouble and harm for Palestinians who cannot stay for more than one month or 15 days in one place,” he added.
The idea that there are safe places to move people to, Zaccara said, “is not true because every time there has been a displacement there were also attacks”.
Evacuation orders a ‘death sentence’ when no safe place to go in Gaza
In Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood, we are seeing video footage of hundreds of families running for their life under heavy artillery and air strikes.
There was one video that showed quadcopters and drones chasing people from one street to another.
There are reports of extreme military confrontations between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighting groups on the ground. This has led to further civilian casualties and the destruction of remaining public facilities and residential buildings.
There are also reports of many families who are trapped inside the neighbourhood, who simply did not leave because there is no safe place to go.
People, in fact, have lost hope and the sense of being responsive to these evacuation orders.
They are not evacuation orders. They are mainly a death sentence for people when they are herded from one place to another and only end up being killed.
Israeli army needs four weeks to complete operation in Rafah: Report
The Israeli army estimates that an additional four weeks are needed to complete its military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, according to Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster.
The report claims the military needs several more weeks in order to eliminate the remaining tunnels in the city.
