A UN training center sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people was hit on Wednesday, causing “mass casualties” as buildings blazed, a senior UN relief official said as Israeli forces advanced through southern Gaza’s main city.
Israeli forces also cut off southern Gaza’s main hospitals in their assault on Khan Younis, Palestinian officials said, and closed the main escape route for hundreds of thousands of residents and people who have sought refuge there.
In response to questions about the fire at the center — run by UNRWA, the UN relief organization for the Palestinians — the Israeli military said the wider area was a significant base of Hamas militants.
“Dismantling Hamas’ military framework in western Khan Yunis is the heart of the logic behind the operation,” it said.
Several sources had earlier told Reuters that Israel and the Hamas group that runs Gaza had made some progress in weeks of proxy talks on a 30-day ceasefire, during which Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners would be freed and more aid would enter the enclave.
But that prospect appeared distant on Wednesday.
In their biggest operation in a month, Israeli tanks have pushed through Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering after leaving the north — the early focus of the war.
Their main target appears to be the area around Khan Younis’ long-standing refugee camp, which includes the Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals and also the training center run by UNRWA.
Residents reported fierce gunbattles in the west of the city, where the military said it had killed “numerous” squads of gunmen “with sniper, tank and aerial fire.”
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said in a statement: “The occupation is isolating hospitals in Khan Younis and carrying out massacres in the western area of the city.
“Hundreds of injuries, patients, and childbirth cases face serious complications due to the lack of access to Nasser Medical Complex.”—Reuters
