Israel has conducted a fresh round of strikes on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, claiming the lives of at least 11 people amid the regime’s unceasing aggression on the Palestinian territory.
Local media said the Israeli onslaught targeted a tented encampment in the al-Mawasi area of western Khan Yunis at dawn on Thursday.
The aggression killed at least 11 people, including three children, and the resulted in the injury of 12 others, with reports naming Major General Mahmoud Salah, the director general of the police department in the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza, among the fatalities.
The occupation forces also struck the central Gaza Strip, where Israeli vehicles fired at the north of Nuseirat refugee camp and shelled the west of the camp with artillery.
The regime’s helicopters also fired at the southwest of Deir al-Balah.
Moreover, the Israeli forces launched a raid targeting Gaza City and the Saftawi area, northwest of the city, as well as the Jabalia camp in the north of the Strip.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on the first day of the New Year that the Israeli regime had slaughtered 17 Palestinians in the northern Gaza refugee camp of al-Bureij.
Twenty Palestinians were also injured in the Wednesday airstrike.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.
So far, Israel has killed 45,553 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured 108,379 others.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the besieged territory is in ruins.
Occupation of Gaza City
Citing Israeli media, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday that the Israeli regime was considering ordering the military to occupy Gaza City.
Israeli Channel 14 claimed the move comes amid a stalemate in indirect negotiations aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.
“The political echelon is considering issuing an order to the Israeli army to head south and occupy Gaza City in the near future,” the channel said.
“Such an operation is possible now, especially in light of the ceasefire in Lebanon and the availability of more army forces to carry out large-scale and prolonged maneuvers.”
The broadcaster also said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is “satisfied” with the results of its military campaign in northern Gaza.
Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza have so far failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the protracted war.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the blockaded territory.
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