The escalation of artillery and aerial bombardment by the occupation forces has intensified since dawn on Monday around the Al-Amal Hospital and displacement shelters west of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. This has resulted in a series of explosions and Israeli attempts to penetrate the city’s western axis. Meanwhile, fierce clashes are being fought by the resistance in the area, raising alarms about potential massacres.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent confirmed that many Palestinian refugees have been martyred and others injured in the western part of Khan Yunis due to Israeli shelling. The report points to ongoing clashes, Israeli fire belts, and the sounds of explosions around Nasser Hospital in the city since last night.
An Israeli airstrike targeted a house adjacent to Nasser Hospital, which led to a large explosion being heard.
Children are among those martyred, and some have been buried within the hospital grounds due to the difficulty of transferring them to other locations.
A number of wounded have been transferred to Al-Najar Hospital in Rafah due to the Israeli incursion and bombing in Khan Yunis.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent also confirmed that the occupation forces are exhuming graves in Khan Yunis cemeteries, following the occupation’s admission yesterday that it had desecrated another cemetery in the city.
Warnings of Massacres:
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has warned of heinous crimes being committed by the occupation forces west of Khan Yunis.
It affirmed that the Israeli occupation is preventing the movement of ambulances to evacuate the martyrs and wounded in the western part of Khan Yunis.
The Health Ministry added that dozens of martyrs and wounded are still in the locations and roads targeted by the occupation forces west of Khan Yunis.
The Government Media Office in Gaza reported that the occupation forces are targeting 30,000 displaced people in 5 shelters in Khan Yunis.
Martyrs in Khan Yunis:
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 50 Palestinians have been martyred and another 100 injured by Israeli strikes on Khan Yunis since last night, amid fears of recurring Israeli crimes committed in hospitals in the northern and central Gaza Strip.
Nasser Hospital has conveyed to Al Jazeera that there is a severe shortage of medical supplies needed to treat the injured. The hospital’s 40 intensive care beds are all full, and doctors are dealing with numerous random injuries to the chest and abdomen.
The Red Crescent Under Siege:
The Palestinian Red Crescent has stated that occupation vehicles are surrounding its Al-Amal Hospital, and it has completely lost contact with its staff in Khan Yunis.
The Red Crescent emphasized that its ambulances cannot move to evacuate the wounded due to the siege imposed by the occupation forces on its headquarters in Khan Yunis, preventing its crews from reaching areas under bombardment.
There have been reports of martyrs and wounded due to Israeli shelling of Al-Mawasi School, which shelters displaced people west of Khan Yunis. The occupation forces are also besieging Al-Aqsa University, which is providing shelter to citizens, and shelling its surroundings.
Medical sources in Palestine have reported that a number of martyrs and wounded from the vicinity of Al-Aqsa University in the Al-Mawasi area, housing thousands of displaced people, have been taken to Kuwait Hospital in Rafah City in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip.
#Urgent | A “Quadcopter” fires at civilians in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis city. pic.twitter.com/nNkFiaCkwF
— Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) January 21, 2024
No Safe Passage for Displacement:
Al Jazeera’s correspondent has confirmed that the Palestinian resistance is clashing with the occupation forces, amid heavy gunfire around the university, as people attempt to flee to Rafah despite the danger.
Local sources have reported that the Israeli army has detonated dozens of homes in the areas of Qizan An-Najjar and the Hay Al-Qarara neighborhood south of Khan Yunis amid intense clashes with the Israeli forces and the resistance.
Palestinian media have stated that Israeli drones intermittently fired in the eastern areas between Khan Yunis and Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
Al-Aqsa TV channel reported that last night a “Quadcopter” drone fired upon civilians in several areas of Khan Yunis, especially around the Al-Nawasi area and Nasser Medical Complex, and at the displaced at Al-Aqsa University.
Toll of the Aggression:
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has announced that since October 7 last year, the number of martyrs from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has reached 25,295, with 63,000 injured.
It also noted that the occupation has committed 20 massacres in the Strip, resulting in 190 martyrs and 340 wounded in the last 24 hours.
The Occupation Expands Operations:
On the other hand, the Israeli radio has stated that the army has deepened and expanded its operations in Khan Yunis, with 7 brigades active both above and below the ground in the city.
Khan Yunis has witnessed an escalation in the ferocity of battles between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian resistance factions in recent days, resulting in extensive destruction, including the desecration of Palestinian graves under the pretext of searching for the bodies of Israeli captives.
