Death toll reaches 21,507 – about 1% of Gaza\u2019s population
\nGAZA
\nFierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday night, residents said, after nearly 200 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours in Israel\u2019s brutal campaign of retribution.
\nGaza health authorities said 187 Palestinians were confirmed killed in Israeli strikes in the 24-hour period, raising the overall toll to 21,507 – about 1% of Gaza\u2019s population. Thousands more bodies are feared to be buried in the ruins of neighbourhoods.
\nIsraeli aircraft also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.
\nIsraeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city. The invading forces have not made any significant headway in the last few weeks.
\nDefense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed troops were reaching Hamas command centres and arms depots. The Israeli military also claimed it had destroyed a tunnel complex in the basement of one of the houses of the Hamas leader for Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City.
\nNearly all of Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million people have fled their homes at least once and many are on the move again, often reduced to taking shelter in makeshift tents or huddled under tarpaulins and plastic sheets on open ground.
\nThe narrow coastal strip is just 40 km (25 miles) long, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
\nPalestinian journalist killed
\nA Palestinian journalist working for Al-Quds TV was killed along with some of his family members in an air strike on their house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, health officials and fellow journalists said.
\nGaza\u2019s government media office says 106 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the Israeli offensive.
\nThe Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said last week that the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war were the deadliest recorded for journalists, with the most journalists killed in a single year in one location.
\nMost of the journalists and media workers killed in the war were Palestinian. The report by the US-based CPJ said it was \u201cparticularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military.\u201d
\nEarlier this month, a Reuters investigation found an Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah, and wounded six reporters in Lebanon on Oct 13 by firing two shells in quick succession while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling.
\nIsrael has previously claimed it has never and will never deliberately target journalists and that it is doing what it can to avoid civilian casualties, but the high death toll has caused concern even amongst its staunchest allies.
\nThe US has called for Israel to scale down the war in the coming weeks and move to targeted operations against Hamas leaders, although so far it shows no sign of doing so.
\nSouth Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its vicious war against the people of Gaza.
\nIt called on the court to issue short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign \u201cto protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Death toll reaches 21,507 – about 1% of Gaza\u2019s population GAZA Fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday night, residents said, after nearly 200 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours in Israel\u2019s brutal campaign of retribution. Gaza health authorities said 187 Palestinians were confirmed killed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-377817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n