Israel’s attacks on southern Gaza killed 51 people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations targeting the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza have killed at least 51 people.
According to reports, tanks entered several parts of the city and surrounding areas on Tuesday evening, with residents reporting intense gunfire and shelling.
An injured man taken to hospital told the BBC that “tanks stormed” his village without warning.
Separately, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they attacked Hamas targets located in three shelter schools for displaced people in central and northern Gaza overnight.
The IDF said Hamas members were operating inside “command and control centers” located inside Muscat, Rimal and Bureij preparatory schools.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least nine civilians were killed at the Muscat school, in the Tuffah district of Gaza City, and another six were killed at the Al-Amal Orphanage, in the Rimal district.
The Al-Amal Orphanage said later in a Facebook post that eight people were killed and a large number injured, including children and women, when an Israeli attack targeted one of the buildings where hundreds of civilians were displaced.
Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza come a day after the country repelled a barrage of missiles from Iran and launched a ground attack on Lebanon. They described Tuesday’s attack on Lebanon as a “limited” operation, targeting sites belonging to Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah after a year of cross-border fighting.
The IDF has yet to comment on the attacks in southern Gaza, which reportedly occurred in the early hours of Wednesday.
But a man in the village of Qizan al-Najjar, southeast of Khan Younis, told BBC Arabic that several of his relatives were killed in the attack.
“Tanks stormed the area, accompanied by quadcopters aimed directly at us,” he said, speaking from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where health officials also provided updates on the number of people. die.
Another man at the hospital said: “We were in Qizan al-Najjar when suddenly, shells started raining down on us from planes and tanks.”
A third man told BBC Arabic: “There was no warning. After the rocket fire from Lebanon, we witnessed complete devastation. I barely survived; my daughter was injured.” injury, and my wife suffered a head injury that could lead to loss of vision.”
He said Israeli forces also “completely destroyed” a house where displaced families were taking shelter.
Gaza’s Health Ministry warned on Wednesday that the death toll could rise, with another 82 people injured in the strikes.
The IDF has conducted multiple ground operations targeting Hamas militants in Khan Younis – Gaza’s second largest urban area – since December.
The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
According to the Ministry of Health, Israel responded with a military operation in Gaza that killed a total of 41,689 people.
