Israeli strikes have killed at least 51 people in southern Gaza, including women and children, as the military launched ground operations in the city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medical officials said.
Israel has continued to hit what it says are militant targets across Gaza nearly a year after Hamas’ October 7 attack ignited the war there – and even as attention has shifted to Lebanon and Iran.
Israel has launched ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Tehran fired ballistic missiles on Israel late on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Israel’s foreign minister said he is barring the United Nations secretary-general from entering Israel, accusing him of being biased against the country.
Foreign minister Israel Katz said he was declaring Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” and said he would be prevented from entering Israel.
The move deepens an already wide rift between Israel and the United Nations.
The health ministry in Gaza said at least 51 people were killed and 82 wounded in the Israeli operation in Khan Younis that began early on Wednesday.
Records at the European Hospital show that seven women and 12 children, as young as 22 months old, were among those killed.
Another 23 people, including two children, were killed in separate strikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals.
Residents said Israel had carried out heavy air strikes as its ground forces staged an incursion into three areas in Khan Younis.
In conflict, civilians always pay the highest price.
War is not the answer.
We need peace. pic.twitter.com/w86Jh7sXCh— United Nations (@UN) October 1, 2024
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Mahmoud al-Razd, a resident who said four relatives were killed in the raids, described heavy destruction and said first responders had struggled to reach destroyed homes.
“The explosions and shelling were massive,” he told reporters.
“Many people are thought to be under the rubble, and no-one can retrieve them.”
Israel carried out a weeks-long offensive earlier this year in Khan Younis that left much of Gaza’s second largest city in ruins.
Over the course of the war, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas of Gaza where they have previously fought Hamas and other armed groups as the militants have regrouped.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 and took around 250 hostage. Around 100 are still in captivity in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not outline how many were fighters but say a little more than half were women and children.
The Israeli military said it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
