Israel detains women and children in Red Crescent headquarters as troops besiege hospital

Situation ‘dramatically escalating’ in Khan Younis, says Red Crescent chief

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Israeli forces detained women and children inside the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s headquarters in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinian media reported, with a nearby hospital under “complete curfew”.

Israeli troops “stormed a residential building west of Khan Younis city, arrested all the men inside, took the women and children to the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society, and detained them inside”, sources told the Wafa news agency.

There was no immediate comment from the Red Crescent, which has warned of almost impossible conditions at its Khan Younis complex.

Its headquarters is adjacent to the organisation’s Al Amal Hospital, under “complete curfew” since noon on Wednesday.

The Israeli army “prohibits the movement of humanitarian teams, including ambulances, in blatant disregard for established norms”, the organisation said late on Wednesday.

PRCS employees and volunteers, including ambulance drivers and paramedics, have been killed or detained by the Israeli army in three months of war, while air strikes have made hospitals run by the organisation “unusable”.

Its headquarters has also been attacked several times.

Israeli forces have intensified strikes on Khan Younis as they push farther south into the enclave, while the US and UN condemned an Israeli strike on a UN shelter hosting displaced people in the city.

Four children were killed in overnight Israeli air strikes on central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Wafa reported on Thursday, while troops shelled “dozens” of Khan Younis neighbourhoods and launched air strikes near Al Nasser Hospital.

A man was also killed in a strike on a family home in the southern city of Rafah.

Khan Younis residents and displaced people have been ordered by the army to move to the coastal area of Al Mawasi, described as a “safe zone” by the Israeli army.

Meanwhile, residents and medical staff say ambulances are unable to evacuate the dead and injured from Khan Younis streets due to drone and sniper attacks.

Secretary General of the Federation for Red Crescent Societies Jagan Chapagain said the situation in Khan Younis continued to “escalate dramatically”.

“I am extremely worried about the safety of our staff and volunteers. Despite the challenging circumstances, they continue to provide life-saving humanitarian support to those in need,” he said on X.

“Their safety must be ensured. The need for an urgent de-escalation has never been greater.”

A PRCS spokeswoman told media on Monday that about 8,0000 people were sheltering in Al Amal complex, and were unable to move for fear of being attacked.

In Israel, anti-war protests are expected to resume this weekend after crowds took to Haifa and Tel Aviv last week to demand an end to the fighting that has killed more than 25,700 people in Gaza.