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At least 70 dead after Israeli tanks return to Khan Younis

CGTN

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, July 22, 2024. /CFP
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, July 22, 2024. /CFP

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, July 22, 2024. /CFP

Israel sent tanks back into the greater Khan Younis area after ordering evacuations of some districts it said had been used for renewed attacks by militants, and at least 70 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, Gaza medics said on Monday.

The Palestinians were killed by tank salvos in the town of Bani Suhaila and other towns fringing the eastern side of Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded from the air, they said.

The Gaza health ministry said the dead included several women and children and that at least 200 other people had been wounded. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its death tallies.

The Israeli military said in a statement evacuation orders to the population in eastern Khan Younis resulted from intelligence information indicating militants were firing rockets from those areas and Hamas was attempting to regroup.

The Israeli military said it was adjusting the boundaries of a designated humanitarian zone in coastal Al-Mawasi – to the west of Khan Younis – to keep the civilian population away from areas of combat with Hamas.

The Gaza Civil Emergency Services said Israel's new orders showed it had downsized the humanitarian-designated areas in southern and central regions, where 1.7 million people were sheltering, to 48 square kilometers (18.5 square miles) from 65 sq km (25 sq miles) in the past.

Around 400,000 people were living in the targeted areas and dozens of families had begun to leave their houses, Palestinian officials said, adding they were not given time to get out of harm's way before the Israeli strikes started.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the latest Israeli evacuation order for parts of Gaza is forcing families into overcrowded, sparse shelter areas.

OCHA added that relentless hostilities and frequent evacuation orders are further devastating Gaza's health system, making it increasingly difficult for people repeatedly displaced to access essential services.

Displaced Palestinians move out of areas in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders, July 22, 2024. /CFP
Displaced Palestinians move out of areas in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders, July 22, 2024. /CFP

Displaced Palestinians move out of areas in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders, July 22, 2024. /CFP

"We are tired, we are tired in Gaza, every day our children are martyred, every day, every moment,"Ahmed Sammour, who lost several relatives in bombings of eastern Khan Younis, told Reuters.

The death toll among Palestinians in Israel's retaliatory offensive since October 7, 2023 had reached at least 39,006 as of Monday, Gaza health authorities said.

While fighting continues, an Israeli delegation will travel to Doha on Thursday to discuss new demands for a Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner exchange, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.

The delegation would meet with mediator Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to discuss three Israeli requests, including control over the return of civilians to northern Gaza, the source said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of talks.

Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes efforts to broker a Gaza truce and a hostage-prisoner swap.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington on Monday under significant domestic and international pressure to agree to a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza.

Despite this pressure, Netanyahu maintains that increased military pressure on the militants is the best route to a deal.

Except for a one-week truce in November, during which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, talks have repeatedly foundered over differences between the parties.

(With input from agencies)

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