Israeli tanks reach center of Khan Younis in new storm of southern Gaza

1 / 4
A ball of fire rises above a building during an Israeli strike, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 9, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 11 December 2023
Follow

Israeli tanks reach center of Khan Younis in new storm of southern Gaza

  • Jordan’s FM said Israeli campaign aimed to drive Palestinians from Gaza met legal definition of genocide
  • Gaza’s health authorities say at least 17,700 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes

GAZA/CAIRO: Israeli tanks battled their way to the center of Khan Younis on Sunday in a major new push into the heart of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled other parts of the enclave.
Residents said tanks had reached the main north-south road through the middle of Khan Younis after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east. Warplanes were pounding the area west of the assault.
The air rumbled with the constant thud of explosions and thick columns of white smoke rose over the city. As morning broke near a city-center police station, the constant rattle of machine gun fire could be heard. Streets there were deserted apart from an old woman and a girl riding on a donkey cart.
“It was one of the most dreadful nights, the resistance was very strong, we could hear gunshots and explosions that didn’t stop for hours,” a father of four displaced from Gaza City and sheltering in Khan Younis told Reuters. He declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.
“In Khan Younis tanks reached Jamal Abdel-Nasser Street, which is at the center of the city. Snipers took positions on buildings in the area,” he said.

At the opposite end of the Gaza Strip, in northern areas where Israel had previously said its forces had largely completed their tasks, residents also described some of the most intense fighting of the war so far.
Israeli troops were pushing into militant strongholds and meeting fierce resistance in Jabaliya and the Shejjaiya district of Gaza City, areas that are still inhabited despite orders weeks ago to clear out of the entire north.
“I daresay it is the strongest battle we have heard in weeks,” said Nasser, 59, a father of seven sheltering in Jabaliya after his house was destroyed in Beit Lahiya, another northern area. Explosions could be heard as he spoke. “We are not going to leave Jabaliya regardless of everything. We shall die here as martyrs or they will leave us alone.”
Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after militants burst across the fence on Oct. 7 and went on a rampage through Israeli towns, gunning down families in their homes, killing 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages.
Since then, Gaza’s health authorities say at least 17,700 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes, with thousands more missing and presumed dead under rubble. The toll no longer includes figures from northern parts of the enclave, beyond the reach of ambulances and where hospitals have ceased functioning.

Who’s alive?
After weeks of fighting concentrated in the north, Israel launched its ground offensive in the south this week with a storm of Khan Younis. With combat now under way along nearly the entire length of the Gaza Strip, international aid organizations say the enclave’s 2.3 million people have been left with nowhere to hide.
At the site of one Khan Younis home that had been destroyed by bombing overnight, relatives of the dead were combing the rubble in a daze. They dragged the body of a middle-aged man in a yellow T-shirt from under the masonry.
“We prayed the nighttime prayer and went to sleep, then woke up to find the house on top of us. ‘Who’s alive?!’” said Ahmed Abdel Wahab.
“Three floors above collapsed down and the people are under it,” he said. “My mother and father, my sister and brother, all of my cousins.”
The main hospital in Khan Younis, Nasser hospital, has been overrun with dead and wounded. On Sunday there was no floor space left in the emergency department as people carried in more wounded wrapped in blankets and carpets. Mohamed Abu Shihab wailed and swore revenge for a son he said had been killed by an Israeli sniper.
The Israeli military said it bombed underground tunnel shafts in Khan Younis and attacked a squad of Palestinian gunmen preparing an ambush, but said nothing about any tank advance.
The vast majority of Gaza’s residents have now been forced from their homes, many fleeing several times with only the belongings they can carry. Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, but even its closest ally the United States says it has fallen short of those promises.
An Israeli siege has cut off supplies, with the United Nations warning of mass hunger and disease.
At an international conference in Doha, capital of Qatar which acted as the main mediator for a week-long truce that saw more than 100 hostages freed, Arab foreign ministers criticized the United States for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that demanded a humanitarian cease-fire.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the war risked radicalising a generation across the Middle East. Jordan’s foreign minister said the Israeli campaign aimed to drive Palestinians from Gaza and met the legal definition of genocide, accusations Israel called outrageous.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would “not give up” appealing for a cease-fire.
“I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared,” Guterres said. “Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it, but that does not make it less necessary.”
Israel has spurned demands it halt the fighting. Briefing his cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas.”


US envoy for Syria arrives in Damascus for historic visit

Updated 9 sec ago
Follow

US envoy for Syria arrives in Damascus for historic visit

DAMASCUS: The US envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrived at the ambassador’s residence in the Syrian capital on Thursday, in the first official visit since the US embassy there closed in 2012, a year after Syria’s conflict broke out.
Barrack, accompanied by the Syrian foreign minister, was appointed to the Syria role on May 23. He is also the US ambassador to Turkiye.

Arab League welcomes EU shift on Israel as Western discourse begins to change 

Updated 23 min 44 sec ago
Follow

Arab League welcomes EU shift on Israel as Western discourse begins to change 

  • EU backing for agreement review signals growing international pressure on Israel 
  • Arab League urges political solution amid mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza 

DUBAI: The Arab League on Wednesday welcomed the shift in Western discourse on the Gaza conflict, praising the “strong majority” of EU member states backing a review of the EU-Israel partnership. 

At least 17 out of 27 EU member states are calling for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This review, initiated by a proposal from the Netherlands, is rooted in the agreement’s foundational requirement for adherence to human rights and democratic principles. 

The league noted that many Western governments, influential voices across political, civil, intellectual, and media sectors have begun to express deep concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories. 

For a time, these actors had been swayed by Israeli narratives surrounding the events of Oct. 7, 2023, remaining largely confined to a discourse emphasizing “Israel’s right to self-defense,” a statement by the Arab League said.  

The increasingly “visible brutality of military operations against civilians — especially women and children — has shattered the credibility of that argument,” the statement said.   

The Arab League stressed that such a narrative has proven hollow in the face of widespread violations of international humanitarian law. 

The league said that resolute positions aimed at recognizing the State of Palestine, threatening sanctions against Israel, banning arms sales, freezing free trade negotiations, and prohibiting the import of settler products represent significant steps toward increasing international pressure to end the war.  

These measures offer an encouraging prelude to a more accurate and just understanding of this long-standing conflict, aligned with the vision of a two-state solution, the league said.  

The recent Madrid Conference, attended by the secretary-general of the Arab League, marked a significant diplomatic effort to address the ongoing crisis. The gathering aimed to explore a viable political resolution to the conflict, emphasizing a two-state solution. 

Meanwhile, ongoing Israeli incursions into the West Bank and increasingly provocative actions in Jerusalem have further escalated tensions. Regional leaders and human rights organizations warn that the conflict has reached a dangerous low point, marked by systematic violations of international law. 


Cholera outbreak in Sudan capital kills 70 in 2 days: health ministry

Updated 29 May 2025
Follow

Cholera outbreak in Sudan capital kills 70 in 2 days: health ministry

  • Health ministry for Khartoum State said it had recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday
  • Army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last positions in Khartoum State

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: A cholera outbreak in Sudan’s capital has killed 70 people in two days, health officials said, as Khartoum battles a fast-spreading epidemic amid a collapse of basic services.

The health ministry for Khartoum State said it had recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths on Tuesday.

The surge in infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) knocked out the water and electricity supply across the capital.

The army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last positions in Khartoum State two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.

Greater Khartoum had been a battleground for much of the previous two years, and suffered massive damage to housing and infrastructure.

The cholera outbreak has piled further pressure on an already overwhelmed health care system.

The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90 percent of them in Khartoum State.

Authorities say 89 percent of patients in isolation centers are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases.

The war between the paramilitaries and the regular army has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Up to 90 percent of hospitals in the conflict’s main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting.


Israel authorizes more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

Updated 29 May 2025
Follow

Israel authorizes more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

  • They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization

JERUSALEM: Israel said Thursday it would establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state.


Thousands storm aid warehouse in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens

Updated 29 May 2025
Follow

Thousands storm aid warehouse in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens

  • The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire following 18 months of devastating war
  • Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people

DEIR EL-BALAH, Palestinian Territories: Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a United Nations warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, with the World Food Programme reporting two possible deaths in the tumult as Israel and the UN traded blame over the deepening hunger crisis.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid has finally begun to trickle in after a two-month blockade, is dire following 18 months of devastating war. Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.

AFP footage showed crowds of Palestinians breaking into a WFP warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and taking bags of emergency food supplies as gunshots rang out.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” WFP said in a statement on X.

“Initial reports indicate two people died and several were injured in the tragic incident,” WFP said, adding that it was still confirming details.

 

Israel accused the United Nations Wednesday of seeking to block Gaza aid distribution, as the global body said it was doing its utmost to facilitate distribution of the limited assistance greenlit by Israel’s authorities.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid starvation fears and intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that aid was entering Gaza by truck – under limited authorization by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing – and via a “new distribution mechanism developed in coordination with the US and key international partners.”

Danon was referring to the GHF operation, which he accused the UN of “trying to block,” saying it was “using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism.”

The UN said 47 people were injured Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians rushed a GHF site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reiterated the world body’s opposition to coordinating with GHF.

“We will not participate in operations that do not meet our humanitarian principles,” Dujarric said.

He said the UN was doing all it could to send aid, adding that since last week 800 truckloads were approved by Israel but fewer than 500 made it into Gaza.

As the war entered its 600th day Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive had “changed the face of the Middle East.”

He said it had killed tens of thousands of militants including Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’s presumed Gaza leader and the brother of Yahya – slain mastermind of the October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.

Israeli media said Sinwar was targeted by strikes in southern Gaza earlier this month. His brother was killed in October 2024.

In Washington, US envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism about a possible ceasefire, saying he expected to propose a plan soon.

“I have some very good feelings about getting to a... temporary ceasefire, and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict,” he said.

But Gazans remained pessimistic.

“Six hundred days have passed and nothing has changed. Death continues, and Israeli bombing does not stop,” said Bassam Daloul, 40.

“Even hoping for a ceasefire feels like a dream and a nightmare.”

Israel stepped up its military offensive earlier this month, while mediators push for a still elusive ceasefire.

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people called for a ceasefire, lining roads at 6:29 am – the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began.

Relatives of hostages held since that attack also gathered in Tel Aviv.

“I want you to know that when Israel blows up deals, it does so on the heads of the hostages,” said Arbel Yehud, who was freed from Gaza captivity in January.

“Their conditions immediately worsen, food diminishes, pressure increases, and bombings and military actions do not save them, they endanger their lives.”

Out of 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack, 57 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Some 1,218 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday at least 3,924 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended the ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,084, mostly civilians.