Israeli forces battled Palestinian terrorists on Wednesday near the main hospital in Khan Yunis, the second largest city in the Gaza Strip, where doctors said hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people were forced outside to fight. He said he was unable to do so.
Israel has ordered residents to vacate an area of downtown Khan Yunis, including Nasser and two small hospitals, as it advances its three-month offensive against Hamas.
The U.N. Humanitarian Office said the region is home to 88,000 Palestinians and 425,000 displaced by fighting elsewhere.
Aid group Médecins Sans Frontières said its staff were trapped inside Nasser Hospital along with about 850 patients and thousands of displaced people because surrounding roads were either inaccessible or too dangerous.
The group said Nasser Hospital is one of only two hospitals in southern Gaza that can still treat critically ill patients.
The Gaza Ministry of Health also said the hospital had been isolated.
The Israeli military announced that its forces were engaged with insurgents in Khan Yunis after completing a siege of the city the previous day.
The newspaper said the planes were attacking targets as part of the operation in Gaza, which also targeted suspected militants in central and northern Gaza.
Thousands of people were evacuated from Khan Yunis south toward the town of Rafah on Tuesday.
According to the United Nations, about 1.5 million people, or about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip's population, are crammed into shelters and tent camps in and around the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
Even there, Palestinians have little security, and Israel regularly carries out airstrikes in and around the town.
Israeli troops and tanks have pushed into parts of Mwasi in recent days, Palestinian witnesses said. Mwasi is a sandy strip of coastal land that Israel has declared a safe zone, where tens of thousands of people live in tents without basic services.
A total of about 1.7 million people are displaced in the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Most have fled from the north, where Israeli air and ground attacks have turned entire neighborhoods into shelled wastelands, raising questions about whether they will be able to return.
At least 210 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll from the war to 25,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The numbers do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it says most of the dead were women and children.
An additional 386 Palestinians were injured in the past day, bringing the total to 63,740, adding to the strain on already overwhelmed hospitals, the ministry said.
United Nations officials have expressed concern that at least a quarter of the population could face starvation and many more could die from disease.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue attacking until he achieves “complete victory” against Hamas, which started the war with a cross-border attack on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and abducted another 250. I vowed to proceed.
Israel is divided over the purpose of war
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel is also committed to returning more than 100 hostages still being held after most of the other hostages were released in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners during the November ceasefire. Stated.
But many Israelis, including at least one member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, say that is not possible without a new deal with Hamas.
The militant group says it will not release any more hostages until Israel ends its offensive.
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Families of the hostages have also called for an agreement, and protests against Israeli leaders have become increasingly violent, leading to the suspension of a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday.
Egypt and Qatar are working towards a new agreement, but officials say the rift between the two sides remains wide.
In Israel, bitter political divisions that dissolved after the Oct. 7 attack are beginning to rekindle, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing widespread anger and protests over his failure to stop the attack and the plight of the hostages.
Gaza buffer zone?
Hamas continues to attack Israeli forces and fire rockets into Israel in some of the worst-hit areas.
Monday's border attack killed 21 Israeli soldiers, marking the military's heaviest loss of life in a single attack since October 7.
Israeli media said the military was working to create an informal buffer zone about half a mile wide along the border to prevent insurgents from attacking Israeli communities near Gaza.
The military said the operation was aimed at providing security for these communities, but declined to say whether there were plans to establish an official buffer zone.
The United States, which has provided vital military and diplomatic support for the attack, said it opposes any attempt by Israel to reduce the territory of Gaza.
But President Joe Biden's administration has called on Israel to scale back military operations and facilitate the delivery of more aid, with limited success.
And Netanyahu has flatly rejected calls from the United States and much of the international community for a postwar plan that ultimately includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
