Israeli tanks made a fresh incursion into the southern Gaza Strip’s main city, which is currently hosting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled Israeli airstrikes. They once again approached the largest operational hospital in the enclave.
People inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which is now accommodating both displaced Gazans and patients, reported hearing tank shells as the tanks advanced into the western part of the city. Residents also mentioned fierce gunfights taking place to the south.
According to the Gaza health ministry, 142 Palestinians were killed, and 278 were injured in the preceding 24 hours.
Israeli officials have accused Hamas fighters of using Nasser Hospital as a base, a claim that hospital staff vehemently deny.
The Israeli airstrikes and ground invasion were initiated in response to Hamas’ assault on towns and villages surrounding Gaza on October 7. This conflict has led to the evacuation of the northern two-thirds of the 29-mile coastal strip.
As a result, approximately 85% of the 2.3 million Gaza population sought refuge in the southern part, which is now the focal point of Israel’s efforts to dismantle the Hamas leadership in Gaza.
The blackout on telecommunications, now lasting eight days, has severely restricted people’s ability to monitor threats, report attacks, check on relatives, and use rescue services. This is the longest telecommunication outage since the conflict began.
Palestinian health officials reported that twelve people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a residential building near the mostly non-operational Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, located in the north of the enclave.
While Israeli forces have partially withdrawn from northern Gaza this month, they have re-entered the southern Gaza City suburb of Tel Al-Hawa, leading to the evacuation of people seeking shelter in some schools in the area.
Militant group Islamic Jihad reported clashes with Israeli forces in the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza and in Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Hamas’s armed wing also stated that its fighters engaged in clashes with Israeli forces in various areas across Gaza during the night and on Friday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned that Israeli forces had destroyed “16 or 17” out of 24 of Hamas’ organized combat units but acknowledged that clearing militants from the territory would take “many more months.”
The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas launched attacks on the surrounding areas, resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties and 253 people taken hostage, with around half still in Gaza, according to Israeli estimates.
Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a solution advocated by the United States and many international powers to resolve the conflict. He insisted on Israel’s need for security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.
In response, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state is the only way to ensure lasting security for Israel, along with the reconstruction, governance, and security of Gaza.
Despite Washington’s efforts, Israel has been reluctant to alleviate the suffering of the increasingly desperate civilian population, which has been deprived of humanitarian supplies since October. This includes adequate medical care for over 62,000 wounded individuals, alongside nearly 25,000 fatalities.
One heart-wrenching account reveals a doctor’s desperate attempt to amputate his 18-year-old niece A’Hed’s leg below the knee, using only scissors, gauze, and sewing thread, without anesthesia. This traumatic procedure was necessitated after her family’s home in Gaza City was struck by Israeli tank fire, and the nearby Al-Shifa Hospital was unreachable due to intense Israeli bombardment.
Hani Bseiso, the doctor, emphasized the perilous situation, describing the area as “under siege” and revealing that Israeli tanks were positioned at the entrance of the house.
The Israeli military did not provide a specific response to questions about the incident but reiterated their claim that Hamas was using hospital complexes for cover, a claim which the militant group denies. According to UNICEF, more than 1,000 children in Gaza had undergone leg amputations by the end of November due to poor hygiene and medicine shortages.
