Israel Calls for Evacuations in Southern Gaza, Strikes Residential Building in Khan Younis

Written by Jillian Shaw | November 19, 2023

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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Early Saturday morning, a missile struck a residential building in Khan Younis, killing at least 26 people, according to local health officials. This strike comes after Israeli forces dropped leaflets aerially across Southern Gaza and the city of Khan Younis late last week calling for the evacuation of Palestinians living there. The leaflet describes that military forces working to combat Hamas are possibly moving into the Southern region and that evacuation is necessary for civilians to reach shelters out of the way of the attack. These leaflets are similar to those that were dropped weeks ago in the Northern parts of the Gaza Strip shortly after the war had been declared. 

Khan Younis is the largest city in Southern Gaza and the entire region is home to 100,000 people, not including those who migrated south from Northern Gaza in the past few weeks. The UN Human Rights Chief commented on the evacuation on Thursday, describing dire conditions, and that considering the number of people moving and confined into a small area, resources are slim and disease is spreading rapidly. Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that the UN “does not consider any part of Gaza to be safe” at this current moment. Additionally, fuel sources depleted on Saturday, causing a communications black-out as the Palestinian telecommunications service Paltel went out of service entirely. Relief groups such as Doctors without Borders and UN troops have shared that this communications black-out is extremely detrimental for anyone trying to get help, such as calling an ambulance or loved ones. 

The Israeli Defense Force and the Israeli government state that the goal of this attack and others from the last month is an effort to eliminate Hamas, the Palestinian group that killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages on October 7th in Southern Israel. Within the last month, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli campaigns has reached 12,000, including 5,000 children, as of Saturday. Aside from Israeli military goals, the US continues to be involved in the release of hostages and the possibility of a pause on military activity to better send humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.