Israeli tanks reach centre of Khan Younis in ‘dreadful night’ of explosions in Gaza, as UN presses for ceasefire

Israeli tanks penetrated the heart of Khan Younis on Sunday, marking a significant advancement into the primary city in the southern Gaza Strip. Residents reported that the tanks had reached the main north-south thoroughfare in Khan Younis following intense nocturnal combat that had impeded the Israeli progression from the east. Concurrently, warplanes were bombarding the area west of the assault. The atmosphere was filled with the incessant rumble of detonations, and thick plumes of white smoke ascended over the city, which is currently providing refuge to hundreds of thousands of civilians who have evacuated other regions of the enclave.

As dawn broke near a central police station, the relentless chatter of machine gun fire was audible. The streets were devoid of activity, save for an elderly woman and a young girl navigating on a donkey cart. Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, chickens were observed traversing the rubble at the site of Israeli strikes on residences in Khan Younis. A father of four, displaced from Gaza City and currently seeking shelter in Khan Younis, described the previous night as one of the most terrifying, with the resistance proving formidable and the sounds of gunshots and explosions persisting for hours. He chose to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation.

In Khan Younis, tanks made their way to Jamal Abdel-Nasser Street, located at the city's core. Snipers established their positions on surrounding buildings. Israel initiated the onslaught of Khan Younis this week following the collapse of a truce, thereby extending its ground war to the southern half of Gaza in a new, expanded phase of its two-month-old campaign to eradicate Hamas militants. International aid organisations have expressed concern that this has left the enclave's 2. 3 million inhabitants with no place of refuge.