With shelling coming from all sides and in areas including hospitals and universities, there is no safe corridor for people to escape.
Israeli shells have hit Khan Younis, cutting off two hospitals as the city in southern Gaza witnessed the bloodiest fighting since the New Year.
Tanks approached Al-Amal and Al-Khair hospitals on Monday, as part of an Israeli offensive that began last week to take control of Khan Younis, and Israel says the city is now the Palestinian group's main headquarters. Hamas.
The bombing marks a reinvigorated 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 heaviest shelling they had seen since the war began.
Clashes around hospitals have hampered the delivery of medical care and paralyzed most ambulance services, leaving the injured without 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 escape, said Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera, reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza. Israeli ground troops were also attacking residential buildings, he added.
The city, under heavy shelling for more than a month, was once designated a “safe zone” by Israel, and thousands of people fled there from the north.
“Now it is just a scene of devastation and suffering as Israeli forces advance towards the city,” Mahmoud said.
Without shelter
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that its ambulance center had been attacked, preventing first responders from reaching the injured.
The rescue agency also said it had lost contact with its staff at its main base in Khan Younis.
🚨Urgent: Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances cannot reach the wounded in Khan Yunis. Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center and attacking anyone attempting to move in the area.#Loop #NotATarget ❌#IHL pic.twitter.com/NXOT2Zzvlv
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 22, 2024
The Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, like all hospitals in southern Gaza, is also under intense attack, Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman Nebal Farsakh told Al Jazeera, and ambulances are unable to respond to calls. .
Health officials said at least 20 bodies had arrived overnight when the hospital was still accessible.
“The occupation launched an unprecedented ground and air war against Khan Younis overnight. There are people trapped near Mawasi, people trapped in Al-Amal Hospital, Al-Aqsa University. People transport the dead and wounded on donkey carts,” 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 is preventing ambulances from moving to recover the bodies of the martyrs and the wounded from western Khan Younis,” he said.
Dark days
There appears to be little chance that the fighting will subside in the near future.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that military operations will not only continue but will expand.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now caged in two cities, Deir el-Balah and Rafah, just north and south of Khan Younis, respectively.
About 85 percent of the territory's population has been displaced, and thousands of people have taken refuge in United Nations-run camps in squalid conditions, while disease and hunger are rife.
“There are very dark days ahead as the situation is getting worse by the hour,” Mahmoud said.
