Israel has expanded its ground operation towards southern Gaza after taking control of the majority of the northern sector in recent weeks. The Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis, the second largest city in the sector, and its surroundings, to evacuate. Israeli tanks shelled positions in northern Khan Younis immediately after the military issued evacuation orders, instructing residents of five areas and neighborhoods to leave and dropping leaflets urging them to move south to the border city of Rafah or to a coastal area in the southwestern region. The leaflets stated that "Khan Younis has become a dangerous combat zone."
The focus of the southern assault is expected to be on Khan Younis, as it is the second most important urban center in Gaza and the birthplace of prominent Hamas leaders, including movement leader Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif. Israel believes that Sinwar is managing military operations for the movement along with military wing chief Mohammed Deif and a few other senior leaders of the group. Israel has also stated that its forces have discovered more than 800 tunnel openings since the start of military operations in Gaza, with approximately 500 of them destroyed.
The United States has urged Israel to avoid a new large-scale displacement and to make more efforts to protect civilians during its ground operation in the southern sector. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced yesterday that they detonated a minefield against an Israeli force of eight soldiers in northeastern Khan Younis, killing the remaining soldiers. The brigades also claimed to have targeted a tank, five military vehicles, and a gathering of Israeli forces in several areas of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the developments in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis faced by the Palestinian people are at the top of the agenda for Gulf leaders who are meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, in the Qatari capital, Doha, for the 44th summit, amidst Gulf assurances for a ceasefire and de-escalation in Gaza. Ismail Thawabitah, the director of the Palestinian government media office, announced to journalists that over 700 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours, stating that "20 massacres" committed by the Israeli army were recorded in a single day through simultaneous shelling across all Gaza governorates. The World Health Organization reported that the population density in southern Gaza is rapidly increasing the spread of diseases. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization's director general, stated that a team from the organization visited Nasser Medical Complex, the largest in southern Gaza, and found it "overcrowded with a thousand patients, which is three times its capacity."
