Israel-Hamas battles rage in S Gaza

GAZA STRIP, Dec 07 (AFP/AP): Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in Gaza's main southern city on Wednesday, as the UN warned a complete breakdown in public order was imminent after nearly two months of war sparked by deadly attacks on Israel.
Israeli troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers have rolled into Khan Yunis, Gaza's second-largest city, forcing already displaced civilians to flee again, witnesses said.
Sources in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group, told AFP their fighters were battling to control entry into the city.
But the Israeli army said it had pierced defensive lines and carried out "targeted raids in the heart of the city", where they found and destroyed 30 tunnel shafts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that Israeli forces were closing in on the home of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, with a spokesman saying it is "underground" in the Khan Yunis area.
"We are devastated, mentally overwhelmed," said Khan Yunis resident Amal Mahdi, who survived an overnight Israeli strike. "We need someone to find us a solution so we can get out of this situation."
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group's October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities, and saw around 240 hostages taken.
The latest toll from the Hamas government said 16,248 people in the Palestinian territory, most of them women and children, have been killed in the war.
"'Public order to completely break down' - Much of northern Gaza has already been reduced to rubble by fierce fighting and bombardment, displacing 1.9 million people according to UN figures.
"We, too, want this war to end," Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters, "But it can only end in a way that ensures that Hamas can never attack our people again."
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and free 138 hostages still held in Gaza after scores were released during a week-long truce that ended Friday.
But mass civilian casualties have sparked global concern, heightened by dire shortages caused by an Israeli siege that has seen only limited supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines enter.
"The entire north of the Gaza Strip is left without health services," said Munir al-Bursh, director of the Hamas-run health ministry.
Guterres warns UNSC of
impending'humanitarian
catastrophe' in Gaza
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council on Wednesday of an impending "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza and urged its members to demand an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
His letter to the council's 15 members said Gaza's humanitarian system was at risk of collapse after two months of war that has created "appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma," and he demanded civilians be spared greater harm.
Guterres invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter, which says the secretary-general may inform the council of matters he believes threaten international peace and security. "The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis," he said.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said he expects the secretary-general to address the Security Council on Gaza this week and to press for a humanitarian cease-fire.
A short draft resolution circulated to council members late Wednesday by the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, would act on Guterres' letter under Article 99. It demands "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire" and expresses "grave concern over the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population."