(23 Dec 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - 23 December 2023
1. Various of destruction of buildings and streets of Khan Younis
STORYLINE:
The devastation in the central area of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where some bodies were still lying in the streets as animals roamed around them, could be seen in footage filmed by the Associated Press on Saturday.
Just a few local residents were seen walking around the destroyed neighbourhood.
As they arrived at a roundabout, they threw stones at cats trying to feed on the remains of at least two bodies that had been there for several days.
In the past weeks, Israeli troops focused on Khan Younis, Gaza’s second largest city, while ordering more evacuations of already displaced civilians to even smaller areas of the south of the enclave.
The Israeli army said late on Thursday that it was sending more ground forces, including combat engineers, to Khan Younis to target Hamas militants above ground and in tunnels.
On Saturday, more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes, rescuers and hospital officials said a day after the U.N. chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza and that Israel’s offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to distribution of humanitarian aid.
Israel declared war after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and more than 53,000 have been wounded, according to health officials in Gaza, a besieged territory ruled by the Islamic militant group for the past 16 years.
Despite mounting international calls for a cease-fire, Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all the hostages are freed. The Biden administration has shielded Israel in the diplomatic arena.
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