9 dead in night attack in Gaza’s Khan Younis, hours after Israel ordered mass evacuation

An Israeli attack has killed at least nine people in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian health officials said on Tuesday, within a day of Israel Order to evacuate parts of the city before a likely ground operation.

The night strike hit a house near the European Hospitalwhich is within the zone that Israel said should be evacuated. Records from Nasser Hospital, where the dead and injured were taken, show that three children and two women were among those killed. Associated Press reporters at the hospital counted the bodies.

After the first evacuation orders, the Israeli military said the European Hospital itself was not affected, but its director said most patients and doctors had already been relocated.

Palestinian militants fired a volley of about 20 missiles at Israel Khan Younis on Monday without any casualties or damage.

Sam Rose, planning director for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Tuesday that the agency estimates there are about 250,000 people in the evacuation zone – more than 10% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents – including many who fled previous fighting, including an offensive earlier this year that led to Great devastation in Khan Younis.

Rose said another 50,000 people living just outside the zone could also choose to flee because of their proximity to the fighting. Evacuees have been told to seek refuge in a sprawling tent camp on the coast that is already overcrowded and lacks basic services.

Over a million Palestinians fled southern city of Rafah to Israel in May has started operations there.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas of Gaza where they previously operated. Palestinians and aid groups say nowhere in the area feels safe.

Israel started the war in Gaza after The Hamas attack of October 7in which militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping about 250.

Since then, more than 37,900 people have been killed in Israeli ground offensives and bombings in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has largely disrupted the transport of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now completely dependent on aid.

Israel announced Tuesday that it will begin building a new power line to a large desalination plant in Khan Younis, a major source of clean water. Israeli officials say the move could quadruple the amount of water the plant produces by the approaching summer.

UNICEF, the UN agency that runs the plant, confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Israel. The agency said the plan to power the plant was “an important milestone” and said it was “very much looking forward to its implementation”.

Israeli bombings have destroyed much of Gaza’s water system, and the power supply from this plant is unlikely to solve the territory’s water crisis. Many Palestinians stand in line for hours to get a jug of water for an entire family. Even before the war, desalination plans only covered a fraction of Gaza’s drinking water. The territory’s main water source, a coastal aquifer, has been over-pumped and almost no water is drinkable.

The The UN Supreme Court concluded There is a “plausible risk of genocide” in the Gaza Strip – an accusation that Israel firmly rejects.