Soldiers withdrew from Khan Younis refugee camp in Khan Youinis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, after leveling two residential buildings; each composed of six floors, the buildings are among a residential compound composed of ten similar residential buildings.
Army, on the other hand, claimed that armed activists were using the leveled buildings for firing Qassam shells at the neighboring military camps.
Hundreds of residents were forced to leave to their homes and headed to Nasser Hospital seeking shelter after soldiers broke into seven residential buildings in the “Austrian neighborhood†and forced them out.
A local source in Khan Younis said that soldiers used load speakers and demanded the residents of the buildings to leave their flats warning them to shell the neighborhood if they remain at their homes.
Army raids the Austrian neighborhood in Khan Younis
01:34
The Palestinian TV reported on Thursday shortly after midnight that more than 40 tanks encircled the “Austrian neighborhood†in Khan Younis and ordered the residents using load speakers to leave their homes and gather in the “Elementary School†for girls in the city.
The Palestinian TV added that soldiers also destroyed the “Albanian Mosque“ in Khan Younis.
Soldiers, on the other hand, erected sand barriers in the neighborhood completely blocking its entrances.
Dr. Haidar Al-Qudwa, head of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said that soldiers also shelled “ Nasser Hospital †causing huge damages.
Five residents wounded in a military air strike in Khan Younis
01:09
An Israeli Military source claimed that a military helicopter fired three missiles at a cell attempting to plant an explosive charge in Khan Younis refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip; at least five residents reportedly wounded.
The claimed that a group of activists was planting a land mine as soldiers were invading the area, and claimed that one of the missiles directly hit an explosive charge the activist were planting setting it off.
The military source refrained from giving further details.
A local source in Khan Younis said that the strike targeted a group of Palestinians in the Austrian neighborhood, near the building of the District Coordination Office, west of Kahn Younis, in the Gaza Strip.
The source added that military helicopters were scene in the area before the attack.
The five wounded residents were hospitalized at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Moreover, soldiers raided an area behind the “Albanian Mosqueâ€Â, in the Austrian neighborhood after shelling it and demolished several homes.
Meanwhile, a source in Khan Younis said that soldiers fired a tank shell at the home, the shelled home belongs a “Hamad†family behind “Al-Shafe’ Mosque.
A wide scaled operation is expected in the area after more than 40 vehicles were scene heading towards the Austrian neighborhood.
