The Israeli army said on Monday that it had carried out air raids on terrorists it said were launching attacks on Israel from specific areas in Khan Yunis, which is a humanitarian safe zone.
Ahead of its offensive, the army ordered the estimated 1.8 million refugees living in the area of southern Gaza to temporarily evacuate from the area as it would attack Hamas units embedded in the refugee hub. The area has been subject to fierce fighting between the IDF and Hamas since Oct. 7, and much of it is covered in tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities.
The offensive in the humanitarian zone was “carried out due to intelligence indicating that terrorists were operating and firing rockets in these areas, as well as efforts by Hamas to reassemble its forces there,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. “Following this, the IDF began combined operational activity above and below ground in the area.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry told AFP following the offensive that 70 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in the IDF attack. AFP was not able to verify these figures. The Gazan health authority does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its figures.
The IDF said their air force and artillery forces struck “more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Yunis,” including one in which a rocket had been launched toward southern Israel that day.
“Additionally, the IAF struck a weapons storage facility, observation posts, terror tunnel shafts, and structures used by the Hamas terrorist organization,” it added. The statement did not address casualty figures as a result of its attack.
The rubble and death in the Khan Yunis area has seen traces of the poliovirus, which causes polio, found in local sewage samples. The World Health Organization said no one has yet been treated for disease symptoms. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), after confirming the presence of the virus, said their troops would receive polio vaccinations and that it would work with aid organizations to provide vaccines for Palestinians.
The evacuation order on July 22 came as restarted cease-fire negotiations appeared to stall, as Israeli athletes headed to Paris for the Olympics, and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to Washington to address Congress and confer with President Joe Biden.
President Biden has been pressuring Mr. Netanyahu and Hamas to continue their ceasefire negotiations. The Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 invasion and massacre of 1,200 people, primarily Israeli civilians, saw Israel vow to eliminate Hamas military capability in Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu said he would thank President Biden, who on July 21 stepped down from his reelection candidacy, for all he has done for Israel throughout his career. He said he planned to discuss with the president issues such as the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, defeating Hamas, and confronting Iran and its Islamist proxies throughout the region.
Israel Strikes Yemen Port
The Israeli air force also said it had retaliated on July 20 to a Houthi drone attack the previous day, which hit a Tel Aviv apartment building close to the U.S. embassy annex. That strike killed one and wounded ten people.The IAF struck the Iran-aligned rebel group in Yemen, more than a thousand miles from Israel. It bombed the western Yemeni port of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold.
The IDF said the strikes, by U.S.-made F-15 and F-35 warplanes, were a response to hundreds of Houthi attacks. It hit the port, it said, because the area is used to deliver Iranian arms to Yemen. The strike targeted fuel storage facilities, causing massive fires. The Health Ministry in Yemen said the attack killed six people and wounded 83, many with severe burns.
Israeli Olympians
France’s interior minister said on July 22 that Israeli athletes would receive 24-hour protection during the Paris Olympics. The announcement came after a far-left lawmaker at a pro-Gaza rally on July 20 said Israel’s delegation was not welcome and called for protests against their participation. Athletes have reported receiving death threats.The games come 52 years after the Olympics’ worst moment—the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes kidnapped and then killed by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games. Israeli press reports Israel will send armed agents from its counterterrorism agency Shin Bet to protect their athletes.
A Canadian national attempted a stabbing attack on July 22 near the entrance of Hativ Ha'Asara, a moshav community on the Gaza frontier. The IDF said the man was from Israeli territories, not Gaza. He was shot and killed by the moshav’s security force.
