 "Israeli tanks reach centre of Khan Younis in new storm of southern Gaza")
Israeli tanks battled their way to the centre of Khan Younis on Sunday in a major new push into the heart of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled other parts of the enclave.
Residents said tanks had reached the main north-south road through the middle of Khan Younis after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east. Warplanes were also heardpounding the area west of the assault. The Israeli army said in a statement early on Sunday that five of its soldiers have died in the ongoing war. An official toll of deaths in Gaza from the Palestinian health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave exceeded 17,700 on Saturday, with many thousands missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Sunday the United States should also be held responsible for Israeli attacks on Gaza and the loss of Palestinian lives. Shtayyeh was speaking at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar.
The World Health Organization chief said on Sunday it will be all but impossible to improve the "catastrophic" health situation in Gaza even if an emergency WHO motion passes to secure more medical access.
Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday called for an international monitoring mission to go to Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation.
Penn President Liz Magill quits
More From This Section
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned after coming under pressure from alumni and lawmakers amid an ongoing row over antisemitism on campus.
Her resignation is the highest-profile response so far to a burgeoning crisis facing US academic leaders in the aftermath of the attack on Israel by Hamas.
Netanyahu, Putin hold phone call
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at length on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Israel’s war against Hamas and the situation in the region, the prime minister’s office said. In the 50-minute call Netanyahu strongly criticised what he termed “dangerous co-operation” between Russia and Iran, according to the readout.