Heavy fighting raged overnight and into yesterday in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive after the US blocked the latest international efforts to halt the fighting and rushed more munitions to its close ally.
Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a ceasefire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of nearly 85 precent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people in the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee.
The US has lent vital support to the offensive again in the past few days, by vetoing UN Security Council efforts to end the fighting that had wide support, and by pushing through an emergency sale of more than US$100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.
Photo: AFP
Israeli forces continue to face heavy resistance, even in northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where troops have been operating for more than six weeks.
In Khan Younis, where ground forces moved in earlier this month, residents said they heard constant gunfire and explosions through the night as warplanes bombarded areas in and around the southern city, Gaza’s second largest.
“It doesn’t stop,” said Radwa Abu Frayeh, who lives close to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. “There’s bombing, and then the ambulances head out to bring back victims.”
In the past few days, videos and photographs have emerged showing the detention of dozens of men who were stripped to their underwear, bound and blindfolded.
The Israeli military says it is detaining people as it searches for remaining pockets of Hamas fighters.
Israel’s Channel 13 TV broadcast footage showing dozens of detainees stripped to their underwear with their hands in the air. Several held assault rifles above their heads, and one man could be seen slowly walking forward and placing a gun on the ground before returning to the group.
Israeli media pointed to such scenes as evidence that Hamas was collapsing in the north.
Men from a separate group of detainees who were released on Saturday said that they had been beaten and denied food and water.
Osama Oula said Israeli troops had ordered him and others out of a building in Gaza City before bounding their hands with zip ties, beating them for several days and giving them little water to drink.
He said the troops asked if they were with Hamas.
“We say: ‘no,’ then they would slap us or kick us,” Salman said adding that his 17-year-old son Amjad is still held by the troops.
Meanwhile, mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said yesterday.
“Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,” he told the Doha Forum, adding that “the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us.”
“We are going to continue, we are committed to have hostages released, but we are also committed to stop the war,” he said.
However, he added that “we are not seeing the same willingness from both parties.”
Addressing the Doha Forum earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the Security Council was “paralyzed by geostrategic divisions” that were undermining solutions to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The body’s “authority and credibility were severely undermined” by its delayed response to the war, he said.
“I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared,” he said. “Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it... I can promise, I will not give up.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS