AT least 65 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, medical sources say, as the Israeli military sent tanks into areas of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza for the first time since Israel began its assault on the besieged territory in October 2023.
Israel on Monday launched the ground offensive on southern and eastern areas of the city that is packed with displaced Palestinians, a day after its military issued a forced displacement order for residents in the areas, forcing thousands of people to flee west towards the Mediterranean coast and south to Khan Younis.
Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting local medics.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said gunfire was audible as Israeli tanks rolled into the area on Monday morning.
“We can see that the entire city is under Israeli attack,” he said. “We did not manage to sleep last night.”
“There has been an ongoing Israeli bombardment. Israeli jets, tanks and naval gunboats continue to strike multiple residential areas. Three more squares were destroyed in the city, and then residential houses were flattened.”
He said many Deir el-Balah residents fled using donkey carts and other modes of transport.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said two UN guesthouses in the city were “struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises, which are inviolable. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders.”
The World Health Organization said its staff residence and main warehouse in Deir el-Balah was attacked on Monday.
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained by the Israeli military, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that three were later released while one staff member remained in detention.
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says the forced displacement threat that preceded the Israeli army’s ground invasion of Deir el-Balah has already displaced up to 80,000 Palestinians.
