Israel sends tanks into Gaza's Deir al-Balah, raising concerns among hostage families

Reuters

6 days ago

CAIRO, July 21 (Reuters) - Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes some of the remaining hostages may be held.
The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy Hamas capabilities and infrastructure.
Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said.
In its daily update, Gaza's health ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours, one of the highest such totals in recent weeks.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army has so far stayed out of the Deir al-Balah districts is because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Families of the hostages have expressed concern for their relatives and demanded an explanation from the army of how it would protect them.
Gaza health officials have meanwhile warned of potential "mass deaths" in the coming days due to worsening hunger, which has killed at least 19 people since Saturday, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Health officials say hospitals have been running out of fuel, food aid, and medicine, risking a halt to vital operations.
Health ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran said medical staff have been depending on one meal a day, and that hundreds of people flock to hospitals every day, suffering from fatigue and exhaustion because of hunger.
In southern Gaza, the health ministry said an Israeli undercover unit had detained Marwan Al-Hams, head of Gaza's field hospitals, on Monday in a raid that killed a local journalist and wounded another outside a field medical facility run by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
An ICRC spokesperson said the ICRC had admitted and treated patients injured in the incident but would not comment further on their status in order to protect their privacy. It said it was "very concerned about the safety and security" around the field hospital.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has raided and attacked hospitals across Gaza during the war, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, an accusation the group denies. Sending undercover forces to carry out arrests has been rare.
The incursion into Deir al-Balah and escalating number of deaths appeared to be complicating the latest push for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with U.S. backing.
A Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday that the militant group was angered over the mounting death toll and the hunger crisis, and that this could affect the talks on a 60-day truce and hostage deal.
UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said in a post on X on Monday that it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff as food prices have increased 40-fold.
"Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale," it said.
On Sunday, the health ministry said at least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for U.N. aid trucks to enter Gaza, after saying at least 36 aid seekers were killed a day earlier.
Israel's military said its troops had fired warning shots to remove what it said was "an immediate threat." It said initial findings suggested reported casualty figures were inflated.
Israel's military also said it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community".
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.