Fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday night, residents said, after nearly 200 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours in Israel’s brutal campaign of retribution.
Gaza health authorities said 187 Palestinians were confirmed killed in Israeli strikes in the 24-hour period, raising the overall toll to 21,507 – about 1% of Gaza’s population. Thousands more bodies are feared to be buried in the ruins of neighbourhoods.
Israeli aircraft also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.
Israeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city. The invading forces have not made any significant headway in the last few weeks.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed troops were reaching Hamas command centres and arms depots. The Israeli military also claimed it had destroyed a tunnel complex in the basement of one of the houses of the Hamas leader for Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City.
Gaza’s government media office says 106 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the Israeli offensive.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said last week that the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war were the deadliest recorded for journalists, with the most journalists killed in a single year in one location.
Most of the journalists and media workers killed in the war were Palestinian. The report by the US-based CPJ said it was “particularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military.”
Earlier this month, a Reuters investigation found an Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah, and wounded six reporters in Lebanon on Oct 13 by firing two shells in quick succession while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling.
Israel has previously claimed it has never and will never deliberately target journalists and that it is doing what it can to avoid civilian casualties, but the high death toll has caused concern even amongst its staunchest allies.—Agencies
