Israeli tanks encounter fierce resistance in Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters.
The strike on this city - home to around 626.000 people, including those displaced from northern Gaza - continued a three-month bloody war with no end in sight.
Eyewitnesses say that Israeli tanks have reached the main streets of the city, while Israeli bombers are striking the outskirts.
According to the local Hamas-run Ministry of Health, 18.000 people have been killed so far in Israeli attacks and around 50.000 have been injured.
During the weekend, the two sides continued their propaganda war. Israel claimed that hundreds of Hamas "operatives" were surrendering, while Hamas claimed that it was successfully destroying dozens of enemy armored vehicles. It is impossible to verify this information.
UN against US veto
According to the statements of several diplomats, the UN General Assembly should vote on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire on Tuesday. On Friday, a similar resolution failed in the Security Council after the United States used its veto.
Filipe Lazarini, the head of the UN agency for aid to Palestinian refugees, also called for a ceasefire on Sunday. He said that the delivery of humanitarian aid is on the verge of collapse, and that only a cessation of fighting can end the "hell on earth" that reigns in Gaza.
Lazarini added that the "dehumanization" of Palestinians contributes to the fact that the international community continues to tolerate Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Israel rejected claims by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who said there was a "systematic effort to empty Gaza of the people who live there."
Will the Gaza Strip even exist?
The experienced reporter of the German magazine "Spiegel" and expert on the Middle East, Christoph Reuter, reminds in one comment that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet said what exactly is the plan for Gaza when Israel finishes its operation.
"But if the war continues like this, then the question will not even arise," writes Reuters, alluding that the Gaza Strip will practically disappear from the face of the earth.
These days, Politico magazine reported, citing sources in Tel Aviv, that the US administration has given Israel "until the end of the year" to end military operations. As things stand, that deadline will be exceeded.
The Israeli offensive began after the "Black Shabbat" on October 7, when Hamas killed about 1.200 Israelis and took 240 hostages in a surprise attack.
NR/Reuters/Spiegel/Politico
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