(Reuters)
CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA, July 22 – Israel sent tanks back into the greater Khan Younis area after ordering evacuations of some districts it said had been used for renewed attacks by militants and at least 70 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, Gaza medics said on Monday.
The Palestinians were killed by tank salvoes in the town of Bani Suhaila and other towns fringing the eastern side of Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded from the air, they said.
Residents of the densely built-up area of southern Gaza said the tanks advanced for more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) into Bani Suhaila, forcing residents to flee under fire.
“It is like doomsday,” one resident, who only identified himself as Abu Khaled, told Reuters via chat app. “People are fleeing under fire, many are dead and wounded on the roads.”
The Gaza health ministry said the dead included several women and children and that at least 200 other people had been wounded. The Gaza ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its death tallies.
The Israeli military said in a statement evacuation orders to the population in eastern Khan Younis resulted from intelligence information indicating militants were firing rockets from those areas and Hamas was attempting to regroup.
“Since this morning, the IAF and IDF artillery forces have struck more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis, including in the area from which a projectile was launched toward Nirim in southern Israel earlier today,” the military said.
