Heavy Israeli tank fire and aerial bombardment hit Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip last night, residents said, while according to Palestinian authorities nearly 200 people were killed in 24 hours in Israel’s military operation against Hamas militants.

Warplanes also raided the camp Nuseirat in the central part of the Palestinian enclave, according to doctors and Palestinian journalists.

Israeli forces are pounding Khan Younis in preparation for a further advance on the southern city, parts of which they captured in early December.

The Israeli Defense Minister Joab Gallant stated that Israeli military forces are closing in on Hamas command centers and weapons depots.

The Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) also reported yesterday that they destroyed one of his hideouts Yahya Sinuar, of the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The house was located near the city of Gaza.

Palestinian health authorities said 187 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in a 24-hour period, bringing the total death toll to 21,507 – about 1% of the besieged enclave’s population – since the war began on October 7. There are fears that thousands more bodies are buried under rubble.?from

A Palestinian journalist working for the Al-Quds television network was killed along with members of his family in an airstrike on their home in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, health officials and other journalists said.

According to the Hamas government, 106 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli attacks since the start of the war.