Israeli forces clashed on Wednesday with Hamas militants in Gaza’s main southern city, while the UN warned of an imminent complete breakdown in public order. This comes after nearly two months of war triggered by deadly attacks on Israel.
Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in Gaza’s main southern city on Wednesday, as the UN warned a complete breakdown in public order was imminent after nearly two months of war sparked by deadly attacks on Israel.
Israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers have rolled into Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest city, forcing already displaced civilians to flee again, witnesses said.
Sources in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group, told the media their fighters were battling to control entry into the city.
But the Israeli army said it had pierced defensive lines and carried out “targeted raids in the heart of the city”, where they found and destroyed 30 tunnel shafts.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that Israeli forces were closing in on the home of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, with a spokesman saying it is “underground” in the Khan Yunis area.
‘Public Order to Completely Break Down’
Much of northern Gaza has already been reduced to rubble by fierce fighting and bombardment, displacing 1.9 million people according to UN figures.
But mass civilian casualties have sparked global concern, heightened by dire shortages caused by an Israeli siege that has seen only limited supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines enter.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he expects “public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions” in Gaza, with “potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole.”
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The UN’s Rights Chief, Volker Turk, warned of “utter, deepening horror” for Gazans, who are being “collectively punished”.
G7 leaders said they “remain committed to a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution” following a virtual meeting.
‘No Shelter, No Bread’
Many civilians fled to Khan Yunis when Israel ordered them to evacuate the north of the densely populated Strip earlier in the offensive.
They are now being pushed further south to Rafah on the closed border with Egypt.
“We arrived here with no shelter and got rained on last night. There isn’t anything to eat — no bread, no flour,” Ghassan Bakr told the media.
International aid groups have condemned the successive Israeli orders to flee, saying civilians were running out of options.
‘Survivors Must Be Heard’
Israel’s army has published a map it said could enable Gazans to “evacuate from specific places for their safety if required”.
But the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said it was “not possible” to create adequate safe zones in a tiny territory with some 2.4 million people.
On Wednesday, Israel said a missile fired at the Red Sea town of Eilat “was successfully intercepted” after sirens blared in the resort.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
