12:29 p.m. ET, January 19, 2024
According to the Palestinian News Agency, heavy fighting broke out around the largest hospital in Khan Younis
By CNN's Celine Alkhaldi
Intense Israeli bombardment and fierce fighting in the area around a major hospital in the southern Gaza Strip claimed nearly 30 lives on Friday, Palestinian state news agency WAFA said.
Nasser Hospital – the largest remaining health facility in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis – was “violently bombed by Israeli artillery and military vehicles,” according to WAFA. Several residential buildings near the hospital were reportedly shelled, including one that killed a family of eight, WAFA said.
According to WAFA, ambulances and rescue workers recovered 29 bodies from under the rubble of destroyed houses and in the surrounding streets.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also said on Friday that several displaced people were injured in Israeli drone strikes on the organization's headquarters and Al-Amal Hospital, located near Nasser Hospital. The United Nations estimated on Wednesday that around 7,000 people had sought shelter on the grounds of Nasser Hospital and its surrounding area.
What the Israeli military says: The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Friday that Israeli forces “raided a Hamas military post that served as a training camp for the Khan Younis brigade and was a meeting point for senior Hamas officials,” locating weapons, tunnel shafts and a device had Contains models of IDF armored vehicles.
The IDF statement did not clarify where Israeli forces were operating in Khan Younis.