Gaza’s Khan Younis has become the new war epicenter as the Israeli occupation intensified the aggression on Monday, hammering the southern city and committing brutal crimes against its residents.
Dozens were reported martyred or injured in the besieged southern city as Israeli occupation forces target hospitals, ambulances, and schools where thousands of civilians have been sheltering.
Much of Khan Younis has already been damaged or destroyed by Israeli air attacks. Palestinian activists also reported that Israeli occupation soldiers on the ground were blowing up residential buildings.
They’re blowing up entire neighborhoods in Khan Younis |
Israeli soldiers of Givati Brigade blew up 40 houses this evening, according to a soldier on facebook. See the mines used in the comment. pic.twitter.com/Ed0EmyCR6h
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) January 22, 2024
For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the occupation military was attacking its ambulance center, preventing first responders from reaching the wounded in Khan Younis.
🚨Urgent: PRCS ambulances unable to reach the wounded in Khan Yunis. Israeli occupation forces are besieging the PRCS ambulance center, and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area.#Gaza #NotATarget ❌#IHL pic.twitter.com/NXOT2Zzvlv
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 22, 2024
“There is an intense bombing campaign near the Nasser hospital and also El Amal City Hospital in the western part of the city. Attacks are also targeting Gaza’s largest university where thousands of people are sheltering. The area is being bombed by land, air and sea – there’s no safe corridor for them to escape,” Al-Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from Rafah.
In the latest toll, Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced that the number of martyrs since the Israeli aggression on Gaza started on October 7th surpassed 25,000.
As the ministry put the death toll at 25,105, it said that the number of injured Gazans reached 62,681.
“Bringing Hostages in Body bags Not a Victory”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under mounted pressure by the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
A group of Israeli hostages’ families and protesters blocked off traffic outside Netanyahu’s private residence in occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday evening, demanding the occupation government reach a deal to ensure the return of the remaining captives held by Hamas.
Israeli media reported that the hostages’ families pitched tents in the area.
The Times of Israel quoted a mother of an Israeli captive killed while in captivity in Gaza as urging Netanyahu and the war cabinet to “give up on ego.”
“My daughter didn’t just die, she died on our watch,” she said.
Meanwhile, a father of another Israeli captive said:” “We ask that they fix the failure of October 7… Bringing home 136 hostages in body bags can never be considered any part of a victory.”
Source: Palestinian and Israeli media (translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website)
