The Israeli army withdrew from the northern Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, leaving behind the bodies of dead Palestinians and widespread destruction to residential buildings and homes of displaced civilians.
The Israeli forces have repositioned themselves in the eastern parts of the city after a military operation in northern Khan Younis which lasted more than two weeks.
The devastation was concentrated in the Hamad residential neighborhood, where Israeli warplanes destroyed hundreds of residential apartments, razed buildings to the ground and caused severe damage to public infrastructure.
Ola Wadi, one of the thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee their residential neighborhood to escape the Israeli bombardment, returned to her neighborhood, hoping to save even a few of her belongings. However, what she saw had shattered the hopes.
"As soon as we knew the Israeli army had withdrawn from the neighborhood, we rushed back in the hope of finding our homes and belongings. We found nothing but destruction, debris, and whatever was left was all torn and burned," she said.
The Palestinian Civil Defense announced it had recovered the bodies of 71 Palestinians killed in Israeli shelling that targeted the central and southern Gaza Strip over the past two days. The bodies of the victims were transferred to Nasser Hospital.
"Most of the martyrs were killed due to quadcopter drones, which fired at citizens in the Hamad residential complex. There was also artillery shelling that tore more people into pieces," said Muhammad Al-Mughair, a rescuer working for the Palestinian Civil Defense.
On Aug 9, the Israeli army launched a military operation north of Khan Yunis. The 98th Division of the Israeli army claimed it targeted what Israel calls terrorists, but the devastation on the ground tells a very different story.
Israel has been waging a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage.
The prolonged conflict has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians in the enclave.
Israeli army withdraws from northern Khan Younis, leaving behind bodies, destruction
Israeli army withdraws from northern Khan Younis, leaving behind bodies, destruction
Israeli army withdraws from northern Khan Younis, leaving behind bodies, destruction
Israeli army withdraws from northern Khan Younis, leaving behind bodies, destruction
The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing on Friday morning with hotspots around the world and security cooperation taking the center stage.
The opening ceremony was attended by more than 600 official representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations, including nearly 300 heads of official delegations and officials from various countries. The forum is held with the theme of "Promoting Peace for a shared future".
China's Defense Minister Dong Jun attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He first read out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping to the forum. Then, he mentioned in his speech the current hot issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.
Dong said "there is no winner in a war and a conflict, and there is no way out if we just confront each other." He also stressed that promoting peace talks is the only way out, and the fundamental way out.
Two plenary sessions were held after the opening ceremony. At the first session, participants exchanged views on "security cooperation and prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", and official representatives from Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia and Malaysia spoke at the meeting.
The theme of the second plenary session was "multipolarization and the direction of international order", and defense ministers or military generals from six countries including Cambodia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Iran delivered speeches.
The topics all focus on security hotspots. Participants include not only developing and developed countries, but also representatives, experts and scholars from the closely-watched countries such as the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
In interviews, many participants said that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is committed to promoting dialog, exchanges and cooperation among defense agencies, militaries and international organizations of various countries, and is playing an active role in promoting regional security and stability and maintaining world peace and development.
The ongoing Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs until Saturday, will also hold eight parallel group sessions, focusing on themes such as the correct way for China and the United States to get along, European security trends and Middle East peace vision. This year, a new session on outer space security has been set up for participants to jointly discuss issues on outer space security governance.
Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level security and defense forum in the Asia-Pacific with significant international influence.
11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opens with focus on hotspots, security cooperation
