1 of 4 | Desperate civilians seek shelter in Nasser Hospital on Wednesday after Israel hit Khan Younis and other targets in Gaza with powerful airstrikes overnight. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI |
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Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Powerful Israeli airstrikes pounded the Gaza town of Khan Younis on Tuesday night as the death toll from Israel's war against Hamas militants reached 24,448 Gaza residents and 193 Israeli troops.
Yasser Zaqzouq, sheltering with his family at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, told the BBC, "This is the first time we saw such scenes [of air strikes]. We were in terror. All the kids were screaming and crying.This is the loudest sound of armed clashes [between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters] that I've ever heard."
Tariq Dahlan, a local journalist, echoed that description reporting that a state of panic exists among displaced people in the hospital.
Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday 193 troops have been killed so far in Gaza ground fighting.
The Jordanian Army said Wednesday Israel committed a "flagrant breach of international law" by badly damaging it Khan Younis field hospital in Gaza
The IDF reported Wednesday that Israel had destroyed a Gaza rocket launch compound that they believe was the one that attacked the city of Netivot on Tuesday.
The launch compound had three launchers, each with 10 barrels, officials said. According to the IDF, some of the launchers were loaded with rockets when Israeli troops destroyed the compound.
The IDF also said the Israeli Air Force killed Bilal Nofal, alleged by Israel to be responsible for interrogating people suspected of espionage against Hamas in southern Gaza.
As fighting in Gaza continued, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said Wednesday there's a higher probability of a war with Lebanon-based Hezbollah in coming months. Hezbollah and Israel have been regularly exchanging fire across Israel's northern border with Lebanon since the ground war in Gaza started.
Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights office reported Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza has created an unparalleled humanitarian crisis, with a quarter of the Gaza population starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water.
U.N. officials also said Israel is destroying Gaza's food system and "weaponizing food."
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Wednesday the death toll from the war is now 24,448, with 61,504 injured since Hamas attacked Israel October 7.
Also on Wednesday, Al-Jazeera Gaza Bureau Chief Wael Dahdouh was in Qatar for medical treatment after being wounded in an Israeli attack while reporting on the war. He was flown to Doha via Egypt Tuesday night to get the treatment.
Dahdouh lost several members of his family in Israeli attacks in Gaza, including his eldest son Hamza, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car carrying the Al-Jazeera journalist and a freelance reporter earlier this month.
