© Reuters. An Israeli soldier gestures in the direction of a tank crew member because it crosses a street, as a part of the convoy, amid the continued battle between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, close to Israel’s border with southern Gaza, in Israel, December 4, 2023. RE
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By Arafat Barbakh and Mohammed Salem
GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces pressed forward with their air and floor bombardment of southern Gaza Strip, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, at the same time as america and the United Nations repeatedly urged them to guard civilians.
Israel’s closest ally america has mentioned the Israeli offensive within the south shouldn’t repeat the “massive” civilian toll it has had within the north.
However residents and journalists on the bottom mentioned the extreme Israeli air strikes within the south of the densely populated coastal enclave included areas the place Israel had instructed folks to hunt shelter.
On the United Nations, Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel to keep away from additional motion that may make the already dire humanitarian scenario in Hamas-run Gaza worse, and to spare civilians from extra struggling.
“The Secretary-General is extremely alarmed by the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas… For people ordered to evacuate, there is nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric mentioned.
Israel largely captured the northern half of Gaza in November, and since a week-long truce collapsed on Friday they’ve swiftly pushed deep into the southern half.
Hamas ally Islamic Jihad’s armed wing mentioned its fighters engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli troopers north and east of Khan Younis, Gaza’s most important southern metropolis.
Israeli tanks have pushed into Gaza throughout the border and minimize off the primary north-south route, residents mentioned. The Israeli navy mentioned the central street out of Khan Younis to the north “constitutes a battlefield” and was now shut.
Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN company for Palestinian refugees in Gaza (UNRWA), mentioned the resumption of Israel’s navy operation was repeating “horrors from past weeks” by displacing individuals who had been beforehand displaced, overcrowding hospitals and additional strangling the humanitarian operation as a consequence of restricted provides.
“The evacuation order pushes people to concentrate into what is less than one-third of the Gaza Strip. They need everything: food, water, shelter, and mostly safety. Roads to the south are clogged,” Lazzarini mentioned.
‘NO PLACE SAFE’
As many as 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million folks have already fled their houses within the eight weeks of warfare that has turned the enclave right into a wasteland.
On Monday, Israel ordered Palestinians to go away elements of Khan Younis, indicating they need to transfer in the direction of the Mediterranean coast and in the direction of Rafah, a serious city close to the Egyptian border.
Determined Gazans in Khan Younis packed their belongings and headed in the direction of Rafah. Most have been on foot, strolling previous ruined buildings in a solemn and silent procession.
Lazzarini mentioned the order to evacuate to safer locations didn’t guarantee protections for civilians.
“We have said it repeatedly. We are saying it again. No place is safe in Gaza, whether in the south, or the southwest, whether in Rafah or in any unilaterally so-called ‘safe zone’,” he mentioned.
In Washington, officers mentioned it was too early to definitively say whether or not Israel was following U.S. recommendation to take concrete steps to make sure protections for civilians, though a State Division spokesperson mentioned it was an “improvement” that Israel was in search of evacuations in focused areas versus complete cities.
U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned Washington anticipated Israel to keep away from attacking areas recognized as “no-strike” zones in Gaza.
He mentioned the U.S. had mentioned with Israel how lengthy the warfare with Hamas ought to proceed, however he declined to share that timeline.
A senior Israeli official mentioned it was taking the time to order extra exact evacuations so as to restrict civilian casualties, however that Israel couldn’t rule them out altogether.
“We did not start this war. We regret civilian casualties but when you want to face evil, you have to operate,” the official mentioned.
Israel launched its assault to wipe out Hamas in retaliation for an Oct. 7 cross-border assault by Hamas gunmen on border cities, kibbutzim and a music competition. The militants killed 1,200 folks and seized 240 hostages, in accordance with Israeli tallies – the deadliest single day in Israel’s 75-year historical past.
Over 100 of the hostages have been freed throughout a seven-day truce final month. Israeli authorities say seven civilians and a military colonel died in captivity, whereas 137 hostages stay in Gaza.
Within the eight weeks of warfare, the Gazan well being ministry mentioned no less than 15,899 Palestinians, 70% of them ladies or beneath 18s, have been killed. They are saying 1000’s extra are lacking and feared buried in rubble, with about 900 killed because the truce ended on Friday.
Israel accuses Hamas of placing civilians at risk by working from civilian areas, together with in tunnels which might solely be destroyed by massive bombs. Hamas denies it does so.
