Israeli army launches new military operation in Gaza’s Khan Younis

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Israeli army launched a new military operation in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Sunday.

A military statement said around 40 targets were struck in the operation in Al-Amal neighborhood in the city’s southern part.

There were no reports yet of casualties.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said early Sunday that Israeli forces had stormed the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in the city amid heavy gunfire.

The organization said Israeli forces fired smoke bombs at Al-Amal Hospital to force its medical staff, patients, and displaced Palestinians sheltering at the facility to leave.

One Palestinian was reportedly injured in the attack.

According to the aid group, the Israeli forces demanded those inside the hospital “to leave it half-naked.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 74,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi