70 killed after Israel evacuation order

Hamas’ 'national unity' deal with Palestinian rivals

FE Team | Published: July 24, 2024 00:39:48

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that an Israeli operation in the main southern city of Khan Yunis killed 70 people and wounded more than 200, after Israel warned its forces would "forcefully operate" in the area, reports AFP.
Thousands of Palestinians fled southern areas of the territory following the Israeli army's temporary evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis, including the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
Israel's military said it would act to curb rocket fire in the area, which saw heavy fighting earlier this year.
The latest incident comes days after the health ministry said 92 people were killed in a strike on Al-Mawasi, when Israel said it was targeting a Hamas commander.
Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 12 people were killed on Monday in Gaza City, with four others killed in the Jabalia refugee camp.
Meanwhile another report adds: A top WHO official said Tuesday he was "extremely worried" over possible outbreaks in war-torn Gaza after poliovirus was detected in the sewage, warning that communicable diseases could cause more deaths than injuries.
Ayadil Saparbekov, the World Health Organization's head of health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territories, also said the number of people in the Gaza Strip now needing to be evacuated from the territory for medical care may have risen to 14,000.
In another development Hamas announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations including rivals Fatah to work together for "national unity", with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups, said they had agreed to set up an "interim national reconciliation government" to govern post-war Gaza.
"Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. We are committed to national unity and we call for it," Abu Marzuk said after meeting Wang and the other envoys.
The announcement comes more than nine months into a war sparked by Hamas's October attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and has launched intense military operations in areas of Gaza that it previously had declared free of the militants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure to reach a truce and hostage-release deal, arrived in Washington on Monday to address the US Congress.
Netanyahu on Thursday will meet US President Joe Biden, who has pushed him to agree to a ceasefire, more than nine months into the Gaza war ignited by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attacks on Israel.