Israel Launches New Assault on Khan Younis, Kills 70 Palestinians

The Israeli military began a heavy bombardment of the area immediately after ordering Palestinians to evacuate

On Monday, the Israeli military launched a new assault on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and ordered the evacuation of an area where 400,000 Palestinians were sheltering.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, a heavy assault began almost immediately after the evacuation order, giving Palestinians on the ground no time to prepare and forcing them to flee under fire.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Israeli air and ground assault killed at least 70 Palestinians. “Due to the Israeli occupation’s attacks and massacres in Khan Younis governorate from the early hours of this morning until now, 70 people have been martyred and more than 200 wounded,” the ministry said, according to Al Jazeera.

A Palestinian woman sits in a wheelchair as she and others flee the eastern part of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

The ministry said the dead included women and children. “We are tired. We are tired in Gaza. Every day our children are martyred – every day, every moment,” Ahmed Sammour, who lost family members in the Israeli attack, told Reuters. “No one told us to evacuate. They brought four floors crashing down on civilians, … and the bodies they could reach, they brought to the refrigerator [morgue].”

The IDF evacuation order covered some areas that were previously declared so-called “safe zones.” Such areas have been bombed by the IDF throughout the genocidal assault on Gaza, including the al-Mawasi camp, part of which was ordered to be evacuated on Monday.

According to the UN, about 1.9 million Palestinians, or nine in 10 people, have been internally displaced in Gaza. Some Palestinians have been displaced up to 10 times due to Israeli attacks.

Gaza’s Health Ministry also said on Monday that the death toll has crossed 39,000, a number that’s considered a low estimate since it doesn’t account for the estimated 10,000 people who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble. Others have died due to malnutrition, disease, and other health complications caused by the Israeli siege.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.