‘They Are Now Planning on Annihilating Khan Younis’: New IDF Displacement Order Sparks Alarm
Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
(Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The United Nations human rights chief called Israel’s intensifying assault on Gaza “tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”
The Israeli military on Monday designated Gaza’s second-largest city a combat zone and ordered all residents to evacuate ahead of an “unprecedented attack,” the latest escalation of Israel’s U.S.-backed genocidal assault on the enclave’s besieged and starving population.
The forced displacement order came as Israeli tanks and troops pushed further into the Gaza Strip as part of a renewed ground assault on the territory, which has been decimated by relentless bombings that began in the aftermath of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said Monday that the rate of Israeli killings in Gaza has intensified significantly in recent days, crushing any lingering hope of an imminent cease-fire and heightening alarm over the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency on the ground.
The group estimated that more than 300,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced between May 12 and 18, with that number set to grow with the evacuation of Khan Younis.
“This surge in lethal attacks is part of a broader escalation by the Israeli military, marked by a scorched-earth policy and the systematic destruction of Gaza’s remaining residential areas and infrastructure,” said Euro-Med. “The ongoing campaign—now in its 19th month—has been characterised by mass killings, enforced starvation, and the deliberate dismantling of life-sustaining systems, with the explicit aim of eradicating the Palestinian population in Gaza and eliminating any possibility of return or reconstruction.”
Avichay Adraee, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), wrote in a social media post early Monday that “from this moment, Khan Younis governorate will be considered a dangerous combat zone.”
“The IDF will launch an unprecedented attack to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations in this area,” Adraee continued. “For your safety, evacuate immediately.”
Video footage posted to social media showed Israeli airstrikes pounding the area and residents scrambling to evacuate their families, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times since late 2023.
“They are literally forcing all of Gazans into a concentration camp in what used to be Rafah in southern Gaza, after destroying it. They are now planning on annihilating Khan Younis,” Elia Ayoub, a researcher based in the United Kingdom, wrote Monday. “There’s never been a genocide so thoroughly documented as it was live-streamed straight to our phones.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza, said Monday that the IDF is moving to seize “full control” of the “entire strip” while allowing in “minimal” humanitarian aid—remarks that deepened concerns about Israeli plans to starve out Gaza’s population and annex the territory.
“If this means annexation, it violates international law,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in response to Netanyahu’s comments. “Sweden maintains that the territory of Gaza must not be changed or reduced.”
“There needs to be a cease-fire and end to the fighting, and the hostages must be released,” she added. “No more statements or plans from the Israeli government that exacerbate the situation for civilians in Gaza.”
Over the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 130 people, bringing the official death toll since October 2023 to 53,486, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
In a statement late last week, United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk warned that Israel’s “latest barrage of bombs” and “methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods”—as well as the cut-off of humanitarian assistance—signals “a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”
“We must stop the clock on this madness,” said Türk.
Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Situation in Gaza drastically deteriorates amid Israeli siege: UNICEF
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The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said Sunday that the situation in the Gaza Strip has drastically worsened due to Israel’s crippling siege on the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu reports.
“The situation in Gaza has drastically deteriorated over the last two months due to the imposed siege and the prevention of humanitarian aid,” UNICEF said in a statement on X.
It said Gaza’s children continue to endure relentless Israeli airstrikes and are being deprived of essential goods, services, and life-saving care.
The organization called for the immediate resumption of a ceasefire and the urgent entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.
READ: ‘This must end’: EU commissioner slams latest Israeli attacks on Gaza
Earlier this month, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved an aid delivery plan for the Palestinians in war-torn Gaza through private US security contractors based on handing over aid boxes to individuals.
The Israeli plan, however, has been rejected by the UN and dozens of international aid groups, saying it runs against humanitarian principles, is logistically unworkable, and could put Palestinian civilians and staffers in harm’s way.
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas also decried the Israeli plan as “political blackmail” and “a violation of international law.”
Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.
The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Tel Aviv is coordinating with a US firm to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza, suggesting that the aid distribution may start on May 24.
The Israeli army has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 53,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
READ: At least 153 Palestinians killed as Israel intensifies air strikes across Gaza
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Israel targets medical warehouse in Gaza
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The Israeli occupation army targeted a warehouse storing medical fluids and supplies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza Strip, this morning.
The Gaza Health Ministry posted images on social media showing the aftermath of the Israeli army’s attack on the medical supplies warehouse within the complex.
The photographs reveal extensive destruction of medical fluids, supplies, and vital equipment following the Israeli forces’ attack.
The attack comes one day after the Israeli occupation army announced the launch of a ground offensive in several areas across Gaza as part of its “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, marking a dangerous escalation in the ongoing genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave.
Last week, the Israeli occupation army attacked the Nasser Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Gaza, killing and injuring several Palestinians receiving treatment inside, according to a statement by the Gaza local authorities.
Throughout its genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army has systematically targeted Gaza’s hospitals and health care system, rendering most of them nonfunctional and endangering the lives of patients and wounded, as documented by Palestinian and UN reports.
The Israeli occupation army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
READ: Israeli bulldozers demolish wall of Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza
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Israeli bulldozers demolish wall of Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza
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Israeli bulldozers demolished the northern wall of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza today, according to RT Arabic’s correspondent in the besieged enclave.
The director-general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that “the occupation targeted the health system by bombing hospitals and patients.” He added that Israeli occupation forces “opened fire on the intensive care unit of the Indonesian Hospital.”
“Occupation aircraft targeted a patient inside the Indonesian Hospital,” he added.
The director-general also expressed hope that aid- including food and medicines – would soon be allowed into Gaza soon.
Earlier today several Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced persons in the Al-Yarmouk area of central Gaza.
Air strikes also targeted the eastern Abasan Al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis, where the home of the Abu Teir family was struck, resulting in multiple injuries.
Meanwhile, Palestinian media outlets reported that Israeli aircraft struck a house near the Jordanian field hospital west of Khan Yunis.
Situation in Gaza drastically deteriorates amid Israeli siege: UNICEF
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