Israeli forces began their invasion of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, 5 December, where hospitals were flooded with a large number of Palestinian casualties.
Residents reported that Israeli tanks had entered the eastern parts of Khan Younis for the first time, advancing westward from the Israeli border fence, in what appeared to be the largest ground assault since a truce ended last week.
The military is encircling Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, as it begins the third phase of its ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“After 60 days since the beginning of the war, our forces are surrounding the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza. At the same time, we are working to deepen the achievement in the northern part of the Strip. Anyone who thought that the IDF would not know how to resume the fighting after the truce was mistaken. Hamas is feeling this strongly,” Halevi said in a press conference.
Halevi also claimed that over 1,200 Hamas members were taken into custody.
According to Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, “the bombardment, the chaos, and the panic” have forced the organisation to suspend almost all aid operations in Gaza.
He said in a statement on Tuesday that the “pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age.”
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