Israeli Forces Carry Out Southern Gaza Raids
Israel’s military Thursday reported carrying out raids and destroying militant headquarters in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli troops conducted operations in the Khan Younis area, including locating a weapons production warehouse. Israeli operations in central Gaza also included killing about 10 militants during the past day, the military said. The U.N.’s acting humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories said Wednesday that displaced Palestinians sheltering near Rafah, along Gaza’s border with Egypt, have started leaving the area because they fear warnings by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a military incursion by Ramadan. ’They have moved back north to Deir Balah, some to Khan Younis, and many of them have gone to Al Mawasi — which is the area on the sand dunes on the coast,’ Jamie McGoldrick told reporters virtually. McGoldrick, who just returned from a two-day visit to Gaza, also said aid workers are preparing dual contingency plans — one in anticipation of a possible cease-fire, the other in case of an Israeli incursion into Rafah. Israel has said it would move the Palestinians to safety in advance of an attack on Rafah but has not said where they would be sent. Unable to safely pre-position aid supplies within Gaza, McGoldrick said neither aid workers nor Palestinians seeking safety have any ‘easy options.’ He also said U.N. officials have received a ‘greenlight’ from Israel to start using a road previously reserved exclusively for use by Israeli forces. The north-south arterial that runs parallel to Gaza’s eastern border will allow aid to come in through the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings and go directly to the north, which has been hard to reach. The United Nations planned to do reconnaissance of the road on Thursday to see if it is free of explosives, and to find suitable storage and distribution sites, possibly a football (soccer) stadium, he said. Israel has vowed to end the threat of another Hamas assault like the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s counteroffensive since then has killed more than 30,700 people in Gaza, about 70% of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Another 72,100 Palestinians have been wounded. Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information is from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports. Subscribe
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