GAZA: Israeli forces stormed the main city in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday and hospitals struggled to cope with scores of Palestinian dead and wounded.

In what appeared to be the biggest ground assault since a truce collapsed last week, residents said Israeli tanks had entered the eastern parts of Khan Younis for the first time, crossing from the Israeli border fence and advancing west.

Some took up positions inside the town of Bani Suhaila on Khan Younis' eastern outskirts, while others continued further and were stationed on the edge of a Qatari-funded housing development called Hamad City, residents said.

After days of ordering residents to flee the area, Israeli forces dropped new leaflets on Tuesday with instructions to stay inside shelters during the assault. "In the coming hours, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will begin launching an intensive attack on your area of residence to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas," said the leaflets, addressed to residents of six districts amounting to around a quarter of Khan Younis.

"For your safety, stay in the shelters and the hospitals where you are. Don’t get out. Going out is dangerous. You have been warned.”

Meanwhile, USAID chief Samantha Power has arrived in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula where she announced more than $21 million in additional assistance for the Palestinian people affected by the conflict between Israel and Hamas, foreign media reports.

The USAID administrator arrived in Al Arish with a delivery of 36,000 pounds of food assistance and medical supplies airlifted by the Department of Defense from Jordan and intended for Gaza, according to a statement.

The additional assistance Power announced on Tuesday will support the provision of hygiene and shelter supplies, food and other assistance for residents of Gaza and the West Bank affected by the conflict, according to a separate statement.

The funds will also support psychosocial care and critical health services along with the establishment of a NGO-operated field hospital in Gaza that will provide in-patient care.

“The United States continues to work around the clock to overcome diplomatic and operational hurdles for humanitarian access, present solutions to emerging humanitarian assistance challenges, and significantly scale up this response to where it needs to be,” USAID said in the statement.

US imposes visa sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers over attacks on Palestinians. The United States has said it would refuse visas for extremist Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians, stepping up pressure to curb a wave of violence in the West Bank during the Gaza conflict, foreign media reports. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States would refuse entry to anyone involved in “undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank” or who takes actions that “unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities.”

Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said there will be no negotiations or exchange of detainees until Israel’s aggression against the Gaza strip stops, foreign media reports. “We hold [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu fully responsible for the lives of the Israeli hostages and for obstructing the completion of the exchange deal”, he said in a press conference.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 06 2023

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