Gaza's Khan Younis sees heavy fighting amid week-long Israeli attack

Authorities said the latest violence killed 66 Palestinian in 24 hours

Displaced Palestinians leave southern neighbourhoods of Khan Younis after Israeli military orders to evacuate parts of the city. Bloomberg

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Fierce fighting rocked southern Gaza’s Khan Younis on Sunday, about a week into an Israeli army offensive that has seen at least 180,000 displaced.

Many of those who fled the latest violence will have had to leave their homes to live in squalid tent cities in Al Mawasi to the east. The area has been called a “humanitarian zone” by Israel, but it has been hit by deadly air strikes, including a July 13 assault that killed 90 people.

On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed at least eight Palestinians in Khan Younis and its surrounding areas, Palestinian media reported.

The army destroyed homes in the east of the city as air strikes hit the southern area of Qizan Al Najar, according to the official Wafa news agency.

The enclave, home to 2.3 million people, saw significant assaults over the weekend. Heavy gunfire was reported in Rafah near Egypt in the south and across Gaza city in the north. Air strikes were also reported on the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in the centre of the strip.

Israeli forces sent tanks deeper into Khan Younis on Sunday and Gaza health officials said Israeli military strikes had killed 66 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.

Tanks pushed into the three towns of Al Karara, Al Zanna, and Bani Suhaila in the east of Khan Younis. Medics said at least nine Palestinians were killed earlier on Sunday by Israeli military strikes in those areas.

Residents said fierce fighting could be heard in eastern areas of Khan Younis where the army was operating. The new incursions saw thousands more leave their homes and travel to overcrowded areas in Al Mawasi.

Israel's military said the raid in eastern Khan Younis was in response to renewed attacks, including rockets, from the areas and to prevent Hamas from regrouping. It said forces killed dozens of militants in the area and destroyed military infrastructure.

On Sunday, CIA Director William Burns was expected to meet in Rome with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and Qatar's Prime Minister for talks on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas.

Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows the conflict will stop only once Hamas is defeated.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan said Israel's response to the latest proposal was handed to Washington on Saturday ahead of the expected meeting – the latest effort to reach an agreement after months in which Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the stalemate.

More than 39,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israel has lost 328 soldiers in the war in Gaza and claims about one third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.

The war began on October 7 after a Hamas attack in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, with 250 taken hostage.