Israeli forces end Khan Younis assaults; Palestinians recover dozens of bodies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Palestinians make their way back to Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the city on July 30.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
CAIRO – Thousands of Palestinians returned to their homes in the ruins of Gaza’s main southern city Khan Younis on July 30, after Israeli forces ended a week-long incursion there.
Rescue workers have so far recovered 42 bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli incursion into the eastern part of Khan Younis. Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said more searches were under way, with 200 people still reported missing.
The Israeli military said its forces killed more than 150 Palestinian gunmen during the week-long raid, destroyed militant tunnels and seized weapons.
After the Israeli military left, people streamed back home on foot and with donkey carts carrying their belongings. Many found their houses damaged or destroyed.
Witnesses said army forces bulldozed the main cemetery in Bani Suhaila, the town on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis that was the main focus of the raid, as well as houses and roads nearby.
“I am coming back, and I have faith in God. I don’t know whether we will live or die, but it is all for the sake of the homeland,” said Ms Etimad Al-Masri, who walked at least 5km back to her home.
“Despite the suffering, we are patient and, God willing, we will have victory.”
Smoke rises from an Israeli air strike in Rafah as seen from Khan Younis.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Many residents said they have been displaced from their homes several times.
“We hope there will be a ceasefire and calm. We hope that they act on a ceasefire so that we can live in security and safety,” said Mr Walid Abu Nsaira, holding on to some of his belongings on his shoulder as he walked back home.
Ten months into the war, Israeli forces have largely completed their storming of nearly the entire Gaza Strip and have spent the past several weeks launching new assaults on areas where they claimed to have already rooted out Hamas.
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, most of them previously displaced several times already.
Efforts to negotiate a ceasefire through mediators, ongoing for months, are once again faltering. On July 29, Israel and Hamas traded blame over the lack of progress.
Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the conflict will stop only when Hamas is defeated. There are also disagreements over how a deal would be implemented. REUTERS
