With bombing on all sides and in areas such as hospitals and universities, there are no safe corridors for people to escape.
Israeli shells hit Khan Younis, cutting off two hospitals as the southern Gaza city saw the bloodiest fighting since the New Year.
Tanks closed in on Monday on Al-Amal and Al-Khair hospitals, part of an Israeli offensive that began last week to take control of Khan Younis, with Israel saying the city is now the main headquarters of the Palestinian group Hamas.
The bombing marks a revitalization of the Israeli offensive in the war, which began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,139 people. Since then, Israel’s retaliation has killed 25,295 Palestinians.
Residents told AFP it was the most intense bombing they had witnessed since the start of the war.
Fighting around hospitals made it difficult to provide medical care and disrupted most ambulance services, depriving the injured of access to medical care.
Attack drones have targeted hospitals and Al-Aqsa University, the largest in the enclave, as the area is bombarded by land, air and sea, with no safe corridor for people to enter. “Escape,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza. Israeli ground troops also attacked residential buildings, he added.
The city, under heavy bombardment for more than a month, was once designated a “safe zone” by Israel, and thousands of people had fled there from the north.
“Now it’s just a scene of devastation and suffering as Israeli forces move deeper into the city,” Mahmoud said.
No shelter
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that its ambulance center was attacked, preventing first responders from reaching the injured.
The relief agency also said it had lost contact with its staff at its main base in Khan Younis.
🚨Urgent: PRCS ambulances fail to reach the injured in Khan Yunis. Israeli occupying forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center and targeting anyone attempting to move through the area.#Gaza #NotATarget ❌#IHL pic.twitter.com/NXOT2Zzvlv
– PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 22, 2024
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, like all hospitals in southern Gaza, is also under intense attack, PRCS spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told Tel Aviv Tribune, with ambulances unable to respond to calls. .
Health officials said at least 20 bodies arrived overnight while the hospital was still accessible.
“The occupation launched an unprecedented land and air war against Khan Younis overnight. People are stuck near Mawasi, people are stuck at Al-Amal Hospital, Al-Aqsa University. People carry the dead and injured on carts pulled by donkeys,” said a doctor at Nasser Hospital.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said dozens of dead and wounded were trapped in areas targeted by Israeli troops.
“The Israeli occupation prevents ambulances from traveling to collect the bodies of martyrs and wounded in western Khan Younis,” he said.
Dark days
It appears there is little chance of the fighting improving in the near future.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that military operations would not only continue, but also expand.
The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now holed up in two towns, Deir el-Balah and Rafah, just north and south of Khan Younis, respectively.
Around 85 percent of the territory’s population has been displaced and thousands have found refuge in UN-run camps in squalid conditions, where disease and hunger are rife.
“Very dark days lie ahead as the situation gets worse by the hour,” Mahmoud said.