Israel continues atrocities in Gaza as strikes kill 32 Palestinians
Palestinians douse a burning car with water after it was hit in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, Oct. 1, 2024. (AFP Photo)


Israeli airstrikes overnight in southern Gaza killed at least 32 people as ground operations intensified in the heavily targeted city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medical officials confirmed Wednesday.

Israel has continued to strike targets across Gaza nearly a year after the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion ignited the war, even as attention has shifted to Lebanon, where Israel is battling Hezbollah, and to Iran, which launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel late Tuesday.

The European Hospital in Khan Younis said it received the bodies after heavy Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in the city. It said the dead include several women and children, and that dozens of people were wounded.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dr. Saleh al-Hams, head of the nursing department at the European Hospital, said dozens of dead and wounded people were brought to his facility and the Nasser Hospital starting at around 3 a.m. Some of the wounded were in critical condition, meaning the death toll could rise, he said.

He said Israel had carried out heavy airstrikes as its ground forces staged an incursion into three neighborhoods in Khan Younis. Israel carried out a massive offensive earlier this year that left much of Gaza's second-largest city in ruins.

Over the course of the war, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas of Gaza where they have previously fought Hamas and other resistance groups as they have regrouped.

Hamas-led resistance members killed some 1,200 people on Oct. 7 and took around 250 hostages. Around 100 are still in captivity in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s genocidal war, in response, has killed over 41,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.

The offensive is among the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. It has flattened wide areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of its 2.3 million people, often multiple times.