IDF expands south Gaza offensive, UN stresses protections

The Israeli navy is expanding its offensive in southern Gaza, the place for a lot of the final two months it has informed Palestinian civilians to flee for his or her security.

The Israeli Protection Forces ramped up bombardment of Khan Younis, the besieged enclave’s second-largest metropolis, because the United Nations and Israel’s high ally the U.S. harassed the safety of civilians.

At the least 50 folks have been killed Tuesday in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis within the south and the Nuseirat refugee camp within the central Gaza Strip, in line with Palestinian information company Wafa. The outlet and different journalists on the bottom reported streams of ambulances speeding folks to native hospitals.

It got here after U.N. Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres urged the prevention of extra civilian hurt.

“The Secretary-Basic is extraordinarily alarmed by the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas … For folks ordered to evacuate, there may be nowhere protected to go and little or no to outlive on,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated in a statement.

U.S. nationwide safety advisor Jake Sullivan, chatting with press, stated that Israel has “indicated there are areas the place there will probably be no strike zones, and in these zones we do anticipate Israel to comply with by way of on not placing.”

State Division spokesman Matthew Miller stated that it’s “too early to make a definitive evaluation … I’ve not seen proof that they’re deliberately concentrating on civilians,” however added: “We imagine that far too many civilians have been killed.”

He blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas — whose terror assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed some 1,200 folks and triggered the present warfare — for embedding itself in Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.

Israel’s offensive has killed greater than 15,800 folks within the Gaza Strip, Palestinian well being authorities say.

Of the roughly 240 hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7, the IDF estimates that 137 hostages stay there, in circumstances unknown. It follows hostage swaps for the discharge of Palestinian prisoners that have been carried out throughout a week-long cease-fire on the finish of November.

Israeli forces hit Hezbollah targets in latest strikes on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Israeli authorities spokesperson Ofir Gendelman informed media throughout a Zoom briefing on Tuesday.

“Like Hamas, Hezbollah additionally intentionally violated the humanitarian truce, which lasted for a whole week, throughout which the residents of Lebanon returned with the hope of returning to their regular lives. Nonetheless, Hezbollah, as typical, didn’t care and fired missiles at our lands,” he stated.

Hezbollah was not a proper celebration to the Israel-Hamas cease-fire settlement.

“In response to this aggression,” Gendelman added, “our forces struck necessary targets belonging to this Iranian militia, which is the primary and final enemy of Lebanon.”

“As for the warfare on Hamas, it’s increasing,” he added. “We name civilians to protected areas. We hit Hamas targets exactly to avoid wasting lives … Hamas desires to proceed the warfare.”

Israel’s critics say that there isn’t a protected place for Palestinian civilians to go, as websites the place they beforehand sought refuge are actually below assault. Roughly 1.2 million folks — greater than half of Gaza’s complete inhabitants — are actually sheltering in Rafah on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. The town has been bombed by Israel quite a few occasions as properly.