At least 9 die, 75 injured as UN shelter housing hundreds in Gaza's Khan Younis struck

Israeli forces pushed deeper into the southern Gaza Strip’s largest city on Wednesday, surrounding two major hospitals where thousands of people were seeking safety as a strike on a United Nations shelter killed at least nine people, according to UN officials and local health officials.

The Israeli military said it had “currently ruled out” that its aerial or artillery fire had been responsible for the strike on the shelter in Khan Younis, where the UN was housing about 800 people. In addition to the nine dead, 75 other people were injured, according to Thomas White, who helps oversee UN aid operations in Gaza.

UN officials did not directly blame Israel, but said the shelter, in a vocational training center, had been hit by two tank rounds. Israel is the only combatant in Gaza with tanks.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian aid agency, said that the shelter was “clearly marked” as a UN facility and that its coordinates had been shared with Israeli authorities. “Once again a blatant disregard of basic rules of war,” Lazzarini wrote on social media.

At a news conference in Washington, Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson, called the strike “incredibly concerning” and added: “Civilians must be protected, and the protected nature of UN facilities must be respected.”

The Israeli military said that it was conducting a review of its operations in the area of the shelter.

The Israeli military, which has described Khan Younis as a bastion of Hamas, the militant group that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, says its forces have encircled the city after weeks of heavy bombardment and gunfights. On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers were surrounding two major hospitals where thousands of Palestinians were seeking safety.

In a statement, the Israeli military accused Hamas of exploiting the civilian population and said that its operation in Khan Younis would continue until it had finished “dismantling Hamas’ military framework and Hamas strongholds.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli military ordered evacuations from parts of the city that include two hospitals — Nasser, the largest in southern Gaza, and Al-Amal. They are among the last hospitals in Gaza still providing limited medical care. Aid organizations and local officials said both hospitals were under siege.