Today, Thursday, tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinian families have moved again amid a new wave of mass displacement in central Gaza, as Israeli forces intensify their attacks on areas already crowded with those expelled from the northern sector. In the south, Israeli forces bombed the area surrounding a hospital in the heart of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where residents fear a new ground incursion into land densely populated by families displaced during the ongoing 12-week war.
Israel has escalated its ground war in Gaza since Christmas Eve, despite public appeals from the United States, its closest ally, to scale back the campaign in the final weeks of the year. The main focus of the fighting is now in central areas south of the Gaza Valley, which divides the sector, where Israeli forces have ordered civilians to evacuate as their tanks advance.
Tens of thousands of displaced people from the Nuseirat, Bureij, and Maghazi areas in central Gaza are moving south or west today to the coastal city of Deir al-Balah, which is already overcrowded, piling into hastily erected temporary tent camps. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) condemned what it termed "forced displacement" ordered by Israel, stating on social media, "More than 150,000 people - young children, women carrying infants, people with disabilities, and the elderly - have nowhere to go."
Residents and militants reported that "the eastern part of Bureij was the scene of heavy fighting this morning, with Israeli tanks advancing from the north and east." Israel claims it is doing everything possible to protect civilians, accusing Hamas of operating among them, a claim Hamas denies. Yamen Hamad, who has been living in a school in Deir al-Balah since being displaced from the north, said, "New refugees arriving from Bureij and Nuseirat are setting up tents wherever they find space."
With food running low, he noted that he "made a risky trip to Rafah near the Egyptian border to buy a 25-kilogram sack of flour for his family."
Fighting near the hospital in Khan Younis saw heavy bombardment this Thursday morning from warplanes and tanks near the Al-Amal Hospital, located west of Israeli military positions. The Palestinian Red Crescent, which manages the hospital and is headquartered nearby, reported that "ten Palestinians were killed and 12 injured in the bombardment there, marking the third attack targeting the area around the hospital in less than an hour." Residents believed "Israeli forces are trying to create a new mass displacement before a new ground assault in the city."
Not far from Al-Amal lies Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in Khan Younis and the largest still functioning in the sector. There, women and children were screaming as the dead and wounded were brought in.
Israel announced that three more of its soldiers had died in fighting in the central and southern areas, bringing the total soldier fatalities in the ground campaign to 169. Last week witnessed one of the heaviest losses in the war thus far. Israel states it will not halt its ground campaign in Gaza until it eliminates the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which controls the sector.
The conflict erupted when Hamas gunmen crossed the border and attacked Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli onslaught has led to the destruction of a large part of the sector. Palestinian authorities report that "more than 21,000 people, about one percent of Gaza's 2.3 million population, have been confirmed dead, with fears that thousands more are buried under the rubble."
Nearly all residents have been forced to leave their homes at least once, with many displaced multiple times. Few hospitals remain operational. Palestinians argue that "the eradication of Hamas, which has vowed to destroy Israel for decades, is an unattainable goal given the armed group's widespread network and deep roots in the territory it has governed since 2007."
Israel has indicated that since October 7, it has had no choice but to wage war to protect its security and recover over 100 hostages believed to still be held. Israel claims to have killed 8,000 militants so far.
