Israel calls on residents in northern Khan Younis to flee new advance

The Israeli army on Sunday urged residents of a northern neighbourhood in Khan Younis to leave the area immediately ahead of a new military operation in the Gaza city. The al-Jalaa neighbourhood of Khan Younis will no longer be considered part of a humanitarian zone in light of “significant terrorist activity” there, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday. The IDF said civilians in al-Jalaa should move to a redrawn humanitarian zone. The IDF said residents had been informed via SMS, telephone calls, fliers and other messages in Arabic. “The adjustment is being carried out in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terrorist infrastructure in the area defined as a humanitarian area,” the IDF said. Hamas said on Sunday it had asked mediators to present a plan for a Gaza ceasefire deal based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations, casting doubt on its participation in a Thursday meeting called by the mediators. Last week, leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar urged Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on August 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalise a ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Israel said it would send negotiators to take part in the meeting. Hamas initially said it was studying the offer but has now hinted it may stay out of the new round of talks. “The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on [US President Joe] Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution,” Hamas said in a statement. “The mediators should enforce this on the occupation [Israel] instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people,” the statement said. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian civil defence force said at least 93 people were killed in a devastating Israeli air strike on a school building in Gaza City on Saturday, an incident that prompted international outrage. The Israeli military confirmed the attack, which it said targeted a Hamas command centre located in the building. At least 19 commanders and fighters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed, the IDF said. Also on Sunday, an Israeli national was killed in a suspected attack in the West Bank, the IDF said. The incident saw unknown perpetrators fire shots from a car at several passing vehicles in the north of the Palestinian territory. According to the Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, two men travelling in separate cars suffered gunshot wounds. One man was declared dead and the other was flown to hospital by helicopter. The IDF did not initially provide any information on the identity of the perpetrators. According to Israeli media reports, they fled to a Palestinian village. IDF forces were said to be still searching for them and blocked roads in the area. Elsewhere, Iran’s president warned a senior European official about Israel’s war on Gaza while also indicating Tehran’s willingness to restart negotiations over a 2015 nuclear agreement. In a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel on Sunday, Masoud Pezeshkian described Israel as a significant threat to regional and global peace and security, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). “The double standards of the US and some Western countries have made the Zionist regime more insolent,” Pezeshkian was cited as saying by IRNA. The remarks come in the wake of accusations from Iran that Israel was behind the recent assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran has vowed retaliation. The Iranian president also “discussed ways to resume negotiations” to restore the nuclear deal, which was scrapped by the Trump administration in 2018 and has since remained in limbo. “If both sides honour all their commitments and trust is built, other issues can also be discussed in addition to reviving the nuclear agreement,” Pezeshkian said. The deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for some sanctions relief. The situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the current conflict in Gaza, which began after the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. More than 590 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry. Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has also increased markedly since October 7. Additional reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg

Israel calls on residents in northern Khan Younis to flee new advance

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Al-Jalaa neighbourhood of the Gaza city will no longer be considered a humanitarian zone in light of ‘terrorist activity’ there, Israel said

Al-Jalaa neighbourhood of the Gaza city will no longer be considered a humanitarian zone in light of ‘terrorist activity’ there, Israel said