.jpg?20251027')
Israeli tanks battled their way to the heart of Khan Younis yesterday in a major new push into the main city of the southern Gaza Strip, as health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said about 18,000 Palestinians had been killed in the war.
Israeli leaders said dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered, encouraging more of them to do so, but the Palestinian group denied this, calling the claim ‘false and baseless’.
Residents of Khan Younis said tanks had reached the main north-south road through the city after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east. Warplanes were pounding the area west of the assault.
The air rumbled with the constant thud of explosions and thick columns of white smoke rose over the densely crowded city, filled with people displaced from elsewhere in the enclave.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has unsuccessfully pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza, said the enclave was in collapse. “I expect public order to completely break down soon and an even worse situation could unfold including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt,” he said.
Earlier in the day, near a city-centre police station, the constant rattle of machinegun fire could be heard. Streets there were deserted as morning broke apart from an old woman and a girl riding on a donkey cart.
“It was one of the most dreadful nights, the resistance was very strong, we could hear gunshots and explosions that didn’t stop for hours,” a father of four displaced from Gaza City and sheltering in Khan Younis said.
At the opposite end of the Gaza Strip, in northern areas where Israel had previously said its forces had largely completed their tasks, residents also described some of the most intense fighting of the war so far.
“I daresay it is the strongest battle we have heard in weeks,” said Nasser, 59, a father of seven sheltering in Jabaliya after his house was destroyed in Beit Lahiya, another northern area. Explosions could be heard as he spoke.
“We are not going to leave Jabaliya regardless of everything. We shall die here as martyrs or they will leave us alone.”
Gaza’s health authorities say about 18,000 people have been confirmed killed and 49,500 injured in Israeli strikes, with thousands more missing and presumed dead under rubble. The toll no longer includes figures from northern parts of the enclave, beyond the reach of ambulances and where hospitals have ceased functioning.
Palestinians among a group of 10 released by Israel’s military in Gaza told Reuters they had been physically abused in custody, including by soldiers beating them with shoes on their heads and bodies. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said it was looking into the allegation.
After weeks of fighting concentrated in the north, Israel launched its ground offensive in the south last week with a storm of Khan Younis. With combat now under way along nearly the entire length of the Gaza Strip, international aid organisations say its 2.3 million people have been left with nowhere to hide.
&uuid=(email))