Khan Younis residents evacuating
IDF forces on Monday entered Khan Younis, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, three months after withdrawing from the area, with the army issuing warnings to displaced Gazans there to evacuate as it targets the reemergence of Hamas strongholds in the city’s center.
Palestinian reports indicated IDF tanks entered the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis and that military vehicles entered the town of Abasan and the Zena area, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas’ radio reported that the death toll in Khan Younis had reached 37 since the operation began in the morning. According to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, the IDF instructed over 400,000 people to leave Khan Younis’ eastern areas, with tens of thousands fleeing toward the city’s center and western neighborhoods.
Displaced Gazans were called to evacuate the eastern neighborhoods close to the Israeli border toward the designated humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi. Recently, rockets were launched from the city’s central neighborhoods toward Israel as Hamas began reestablishing itself in the area. The operation is set to begin in the east and gradually move toward the city’s center.
Dozens of bodies and injured were reportedly taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and a hospital in Deir al-Balah. The head nurse at Nasser Hospital said, "We don’t have the basic resources and supplies to treat the injured and sick. There aren’t enough staff to treat the wounded; dozens of patients are waiting for their turn in the operating rooms. We demand the opening of border crossings to evacuate hundreds of injured needing urgent surgeries."
Gazans in the area were contacted by the IDF prior to the operation and were told to evacuate due to "numerous terrorist activities and rocket fire toward Israel" originating from several neighborhoods in the city’s center, considered part of Gaza’s humanitarian zone.
"The Hamas terrorist organization has placed terrorist infrastructure in an area defined as a humanitarian zone," the IDF said.
The early warning was given, according to the IDF, to minimize civilian harm and keep them away from combat zones. "The IDF is about to act against terrorist organizations, and therefore calls on the population remaining in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis to temporarily evacuate to the designated humanitarian area in Al Mawasi," the military said.
"Evacuation instructions are given out via text messages, recorded voice messages, phone calls, Arabic media broadcasts and leaflets,” it added.
The IDF informed health workers in Gaza and international officials that there was no need to evacuate hospitals in the area. "The IDF will continue to act against the Hamas terrorist organization, which uses Gaza residents as human shields for its terrorist activities and infrastructure," the military said.
Nahal Brigade forces operating in Rafah
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Meanwhile, the IDF on Monday announced the conclusion of the Nahal Brigade's operations in Rafah, which lasted for about two months under the command of the 162nd Division.
During this period, the forces completed four brigade-level operations, targeted Hamas objectives, eliminated over 150 terrorists who posed a threat to the soldiers and located approximately 400 different weapons. The brigade's fighters operated in the south and central parts of the Brazil neighborhood, the northern Yibna refugee camp and the Al-Shaboura refugee camp. The forces will be rotated out and replaced by Givati Brigade forces.