Gaza Health Ministry: 70 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Khan Younis

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza Health Ministry: 70 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Khan Younis

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Seventy Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded by Israeli fire on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Gaza's Health Ministry said on Monday.

It said some of the wounded were in a "dangerous condition.”

Another strike hit outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central town of Deir-Al-Balah, where many people were living in tents on the street, killing one person and wounding three.

The attacks came as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants there. The order triggered a new flight of Palestinians, many of whom had taken refuge there just in the past weeks.

The Health Ministry said the toll from Israel’s nine-month war against Hamas in Gaza has surpassed 39,000 Palestinians killed and 89,800 wounded.



Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
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Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization does not guarantee he will be the next Palestinian president. But it makes him the front-runner among longtime politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Abbas.

Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from Western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.