Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal it plans an offensive targeting the city of Rafah.
Here is the latest:
Quick Read
- Tent Compound Construction: Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as Israel signals plans for an offensive in Rafah.
- Israeli Military Denial: The Israeli military clarified that it was not involved in the tent construction near Khan Younis. Reports suggest Egypt may be constructing the tents in anticipation of the Rafah offensive.
- Regional Impact: Recent developments have escalated tensions, with an unsuccessful rocket attack by Iranian-backed militias targeting a U.S.-led coalition base in Syria, and ongoing skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border.
- War Casualties: The Israel-Hamas conflict has resulted in over 34,000 Palestinian deaths, with local health authorities stating that two-thirds are women and children. The Gaza Health Ministry reported 32 deaths in the last 24 hours from Israeli strikes.
- Humanitarian Crisis: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a $26 billion aid package, including significant humanitarian assistance for Gaza, amid warnings of a looming famine in the area.
- Hostage Situation: Ongoing tensions include the unresolved situation of about 100 hostages held by militants in Gaza, complicating efforts to de-escalate the conflict.
- Military and Civilian Casualties Reported: The Israeli military claims to have killed 13,000 militants, a figure not independently verified, amidst reports from Lebanon of casualties from an Israeli airstrike.
The Associated Press has the story:
Tent compound rises in Khan Younis as Israel prepares for Rafah offensive
Newslooks- (AP)
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal it plans an offensive targeting the city of Rafah.
The tent construction is near Khan Younis, which has been targeted by repeated Israeli military operations over recent weeks. Israel has said it plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah during an anticipated offensive on the southern city, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken refuge during the war, now in its seventh month, but the military said it was involved in the tent construction.
On Monday, a failed rocket strike was launched at a base housing U.S.-led coalition forces at Rumalyn, Syria, marking the first time since Feb. 4 that Iranian-backed militias have attacked a U.S. facility in Iraq or Syria, a U.S. defense official said. No personnel were injured in the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The conflict has sparked regional unrest pitting Israel and the U.S. against Iran and allied militant groups across the Middle East. Israel and Iran traded fire directly this month, raising fears of all-out war.
The war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, around two-thirds of them children and women. It has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction. Around 80% of the territory’s population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $26 billion aid package on Saturday that includes around $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine, as well as billions for Israel. The U.S. Senate could pass the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY REPORTS 32 DEAD
The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 59 wounded, it said in its daily report.
That brings the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 34,183, the ministry said. Another 77,143 have been injured, it said.
The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies, but has said that women and children make up around two thirds of those killed.
The Israeli military says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim.
APPARENT ISRAELI STRIKE HITS CAR IN LEBANON, KILLING AT LEAST 1
BEIRUT — An apparent Israeli airstrike on a car in southern Lebanon killed at least one person Tuesday, officials said.
State media and witnesses said the strike happened in the area of Adloun, between the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
It was not immediately clear who was killed.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Tuesday’s strike. Israel has regularly carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas members in Lebanon, sometimes in areas far from the border.
SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW TENT COMPOUND UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN KHAN YOUNIS
JERUSALEM — Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal it plans an offensive targeting the city of Rafah.
Images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show the tent compound starting to be fully under construction on April 16 just west of Khan Younis. Images taken Sunday show the tent compound in the time since has grown.
The Israeli military said Tuesday that it was not involved in the tent construction near Khan Younis. The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, without attributing the information, said that Egypt was constructing the tent compound ahead of a possible Rafah offensive.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the tents. However, their construction comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened “additional painful blows” targeting Hamas over the breakdown of talks over trying to free the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
That could include the long-threatened attack on Rafah, where half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people have fled amid the war. The U.S., Israel’s main ally, has repeatedly said any military operation needs to protect civilians.
Netanyahu has said he would order to military to evacuate civilians from Rafah for the offensive, but it is not clear where they could go.
Currently:
— Satellite photos suggest Iran air defense radar struck during apparent Israeli attack on Isfahan
— Review of U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees found Israel did not express concern about staff
— Israel’s chief of military intelligence resigns, citing failure to prevent Oct. 7 attacks
