[ad_1]
Israel has issued a fresh warning to Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis to flee out of the line of fire. Israeli military forces dropped leaflets on the city suggesting inhabitants move west closer to where humanitarian aid could be distributed.
The several thousand displaced Palestinians, who earlier fled to Khan Younis from northern Gaza, will have to move once again along with the 400,000 inhabitants of the city.
“We’re asking people to relocate. I know it’s not easy for many of them, but we don’t want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire,” Mark Regev, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told US broadcaster MSNBC on Friday.
The Associated Press news agency reported that Israel, on Wednesday, dropped leaflets over areas of Khan Younis calling on residents to seek shelter elsewhere.
The development is the most recent indication that Israel plans to expand its offensive in Gaza which has so far been limited to the northern region.
In the first week of the war, Israel had dropped leaflets on the northern cities, warning Palestinians to flee to the south.
Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry authorities raised their death toll on Friday to over 12,000 people, of which 5,000 were children.
The United Nations deems those figures credible, though they are now updated infrequently due to the difficulty of collecting information.
Israel has sworn to root out Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist militant organization Hamas. Around 1,200 people had died in those attacks on Israel and some 240 were taken hostage.
Hamas is designated a terror organization by Israel, the United States, Germany and other nations as well as the European Union.
[ad_2]
Source link
