Hospitals are getting squeezed by Israel’s fighting in Southern Gaza

The Gaza Strip is being “expanded”: an Israeli attack in the lead up to Hamas resummation

Fighting intensified in southern Gaza on Monday, with medical personnel reporting heavy exchanges of gunfire and a surge of Israeli tanks and troops into areas around hospitals.

The health authorities in Gaza have said in recent days that more than 25,000 people there have been killed since Israel began its campaign to defeat Hamas, adding that more than 63,000 others had been injured.

Naseem Hasan said in an interview that tanks were about 100 meters south of the hospital and could target anyone. One ambulance carrying a person who had been shot in the head was not able to reach him this morning and had to take him to a hospital in Rafah for three hours.

The Red Crescent crews were unable to respond because they are being targeted, she said, referring to calls from people who were wounded across Khan Younis.

The spokeswoman for the Red Crescent says that Khan Younias is very dangerous. “The whole district of Khan Younis is essentially besieged.”

In the middle of the south of Gaza, Israel’s military claimed to have surrounded the city of Khan Younis, a significant step in its fight against Hamas. The area is packed with people who fled away from their homes in other parts of the territory.

Israeli forces largely secured military control of northern Gaza before they pushed to the south. Almost all of the 2.2 million people in Gaza have been forced out of their homes because of the war, according to the United Nations.

Several people were killed and injured in a school after an Israeli attack, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency. The report couldn’t be verified. The school was sheltering displaced people who went there after the Israeli military told them that Al-Mawasi, a seaside area, was a safe zone.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. On Sunday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israeli forces in southern Gaza were acting with great precision and would be “expanding” their operations in Khan Younis.

“The plumes of smoke from the tanks, artillery and planes belonging to the Air Force will continue to cover the Gaza Strip’s skies until we achieve our goals, chief among them toppling Hamas and returning the hostages to their homes,” he said in a statement.

The health ministry of the Gaza Strip said that Israeli strikes had killed 190 people and wounded 340 others over the previous 24 hours. The exact number of casualties in Khan Younis was not given.

The military said that Israeli forces targeted terrorist cells near the troops, those who were launching anti-tank missiles, and terror operatives who rigged compounds with explosives. The military said that ready-to-launch rockets and military compounds were located during the activity.

Israel’s Prime Minister began the campaign after 1,200 people were killed by Hamas in October and around 220 people were taken hostage. More than 100 people are still in captivity.