129 Gazans killed in Israeli onslaught in Khan Younis, authorities say

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

The Israeli army launched a surprise attack on the city’s eastern neighborhoods 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 Younis.

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

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 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, which ordered Tel Aviv 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 May 6.