190 more Palestinians martyred in 24 hours as Israel continues genocide in Gaza
GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - The Israeli army bombarded Khan Yunis, the latest epicentre of the war in Gaza, on Monday.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 25,295 people have been martyred in the Palestinian territory during the war between militants and Israel. The toll includes 190 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while some 63,000 people in Gaza have been wounded in the conflict since October 7.
Witnesses reported deadly strikes overnight in Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza, and fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. "Artillery shelling has not stopped since 5:00 am," said Yunis Abdel Razek, 52, who was sheltering with his family at the city's Al-Aqsa University.
"We can't leave the university... it's dangerous and I fear for the little ones," he said. "They said the Al-Mawasi area was safe but they lied," he added, referring to a coastal strip west of Khan Yunis.
Mahdi Antar, 21, meanwhile said he feared forces would "storm" Al-Nasr Hospital where he was sheltering with his family. While fighting is concentrated in the south it has not ended in the north, where Hamas authorities reported shelling in the Gaza City area and witnesses heard explosions.
Humanitarian crisis
UN agencies have warned of famine and disease as Gazans, at least 1.7 million of whom are displaced, struggle with shortages of water, medical care and other essentials during daily bombardment.
Abdelrahman Iyad, wounded in Gaza and now being treated aboard the French helicopter carrier Dixmude, docked in Egypt, said he did not have time to leave his house before it was hit. "I was with my parents, my brother, my sister, my second sister and her husband and their daughter. They all died. I'm the only survivor," he said.
Rising tensions and violence across the Middle East -- involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen -- have stoked fears of a wider conflagration.
Sirens were heard overnight in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said, where there have been near daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. Several areas of southern Lebanon were hit overnight, killing one Hezbollah fighter, according to a source in the Hamas-aligned group.
