129 Palestinians killed in Israeli onslaught in Khan Yunis since Monday, authorities say

At least 129 Palestinians have been killed and over 416 others injured in an Israeli ongoing military operation in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip since Monday, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The Israeli army launched a surprise attack on the city’s eastern neighbourhoods after issuing orders for residents to immediately evacuate their homes.

The area was previously designated by the Israeli army as a “safe zone” for displaced Palestinians amid Tel Aviv’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s government media office said 44 Palestinians are still unaccounted for following the Israeli attack.

The media office said it has received around 1,350 calls for help from families trapped by the Israeli army in eastern Khan Yunis.

According to the statement, some 237 houses were bombed in the area.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 39,100 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,200 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: 150,000 Palestinians forced to flee Khan Yunis in a single day