Israel-Hamas war
Leaflet campaign raises fears that the war could spread to areas the IDF had previously declared safe
Israel has dropped leaflets in southern Gaza urging Palestinian civilians to leave four towns on the eastern edge of Khan Younis, raising fears that the war against Hamas could spread to areas the country previously declared safe had.
The leaflets told civilians in Bani Shuhaila, Khuza’a, Abassan and al-Qarara that anyone near militants or their positions was “putting their lives in danger,” locals told Portal.
In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli operations at al-Shifa Hospital continued on Thursday after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) entered the sprawling compound in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Tens of thousands of people have fled from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, crowding into UN shelters and family homes in Khan Younis, the largest city in the south.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said five weeks into the war, “massive outbreaks of infectious diseases and starvation” appeared inevitable in the densely populated Palestinian territory. He predicted catastrophic consequences if fuel supplies ran out, including the collapse of sewage systems and health services and an end to already scarce supplies of humanitarian aid.
In Gaza City, IDF troops searched the underground floors of Al-Shifa Hospital and detained technicians responsible for operating the equipment, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
Munir al-Boursh, a senior official at the hospital, said troops searched the basement and other buildings and interviewed and facially screened patients, staff and people sheltering in the facility, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas, said its fighters were involved in “fierce clashes” with Israeli forces near the hospital complex, the BBC reported.
Hundreds of patients, including newborns in Shifa, suffer for days without electricity and other basic needs.
The hospital has become a strategic target for Israel, which claims there is a Hamas command center in bunkers below, something Hamas and hospital staff deny.
Civilians in Gaza respond to warnings that the war could spread further south – video
An IDF official said Thursday that troops were still in the hospital complex and were searching one building after another “discreetly, methodically and thoroughly.”
The official said the IDF found weapons, intelligence materials, military technology and equipment, command and control centers and Hamas communications equipment. They added that information and footage about the hostages kidnapped from Israel were found on computers and other technological devices. The officer did not provide any evidence.
On Wednesday, Hamas described Israel’s claims that military equipment had been found as “nothing more than a continuation of the lies and cheap propaganda through which…” [Israel] is trying to justify his crime aimed at destroying the health sector in Gaza.”
Hamas militants stormed southern Israeli towns and kibbutzim on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostage.
On Thursday morning, the IDF said Israeli warplanes had attacked the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza. In a social media post that included a video purporting to show the attack, the IDF said the house was “used as a terrorist infrastructure and meeting place for senior Hamas leaders to direct terrorist attacks against Israel.”
On Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the IDF’s ground operation would ultimately “include both the north and the south.” “We will attack Hamas wherever it is,” he said.
Two reporters living east of Khan Younis confirmed seeing the leaflets and others shared images of the leaflets on social media, Portal reported. The military declined to comment.
The leaflets state: “For your safety, you must immediately evacuate your residences and go to known shelters… Anyone found near terrorists or their facilities is putting their life at risk, and any home used by terrorists will be targeted taken.”
Palestinians are fleeing the northern Gaza Strip towards the south over the weekend. Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been left homeless by the war, and every available space in Khan Younis and other southern cities is overcrowded.
Mohammed Ghalayini, 44, a Manchester civil servant who lives in central Khan Younis, said there was a housing crisis across the city.
“There was a massive influx of people,” he said. “It is the largest place and the place where there is more potential to find accommodation.
“There is a massive housing crisis. Every day three people I know call me and say, “Can you help me find an apartment?” and it’s really hard because there are no places. Even if the space is there, the question is whether it can support people with water and sanitation.”
According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children. Another 2,700 were reported missing, most of them believed to be buried under the rubble.
The Israeli army announced the deaths of two more soldiers in Gaza on Thursday, bringing to 50 the number of soldiers killed in the territory since the start of the war.
On Wednesday, three suspected Palestinian attackers opened fire at a checkpoint on a road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, wounding six security force members before the attackers were shot dead, Israeli police said.
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