Dozens of Israeli tanks, troop transports and bulldozers entered the south of the Gaza Strip, near the town of Khan Younes, witnesses told AFP on Monday.
Israel entered into war with Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist movement’s bloody attack on its soil on October 7. The Israeli army has since carried out more than 10,000 strikes on Gaza, controlled by Hamas, and launched a ground offensive in the North on October 27.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled to the now intensely shelled south, where the Israeli army has indicated that it intends to extend its ground operations to eliminate Hamas leaders and its infrastructure.
Its strikes in the South have been concentrated for several days on the Khan Younès sector.
Amine Abou Hole, 59, reported Monday that Israeli military vehicles had now entered “to a depth of two kilometers” into the village of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younes.
“Tanks entered through the Kissoufim military border checkpoint from the west and advanced more than two kilometers into the village of al-Qarara, they are now massed in the Abou Hole sector to the west of the Salaheddine road,” he added.
“We left yesterday at the end of the day with my wife and our three children, as well as my parents, the tanks are now on the Salaheddine road”, which crosses the Gaza Strip from north to south, added Moaz Mohammed. , 34 years old.
“They are holding it on both sides and are now cutting it between Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis, firing bullets and tank shells at all the cars and people trying to move through the area,” he said. added.
Forced to flee to the south of the Gaza Strip, the displaced Palestinians today experience daily aerial bombardments which cause numerous casualties, deaths and injuries every day. And they fear being pushed toward Egypt by a massive entry of tanks and infantry into the area.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, reaffirmed Monday during a telephone interview with the American Vice-President, Kamala Harris, his opposition to “any forced displacement of Palestinians”, whether from Gaza or the all of the occupied territories.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army denied any intention of forcing the Gazans out of their territory and into Egypt. “We are not trying to evacuate people there,” Jonathan Conricus told journalists.
In mid-November, however, Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel called on the international community to “promote the voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians “outside the Gaza Strip”, “rather than sending money to rebuild » the territory.