The Israeli military launched deadly attacks in southern Gaza on Tuesday, before the army once again ordered Palestinians to leave areas of the besieged territory near the Israeli and Egyptian border.
Witnesses have reported heavy bombardment and shelling around Khan Younis, the main town in southern Gaza, from which Israeli forces withdrew in early April after months of devastating fighting.
Eight people were killed and more than 30 injured in the shelling, a hospital source in the city said.
The bombing followed a rocket attack on southern Israel claimed by the Islamic Jihad group, which fights alongside Hamas.
This was followed by an evacuation order for most of the areas east of the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, including the towns of al-Qarara and Bani Suheila.
Bani Suheila resident Ahmad Najjar said the Israeli order had sparked “fear and extreme anxiety,” and that “a large number of residents are being displaced.”
Last week, a similar evacuation order was issued for the Gaza City district of Shuja’iyya, following six consecutive days of heavy fighting.
An AFP correspondent reported shelling in the northern region on Tuesday and witnesses said the firing continued.
The army said its forces were carrying out operations in Shuja’iya, central Gaza and Rafah, where aircraft carried out strikes and troops “ambushed an armed terrorist squad” in a car and killed them.
The Israeli air force “strike[ed]nearly 30 terrorist targets” in Gaza over the past day, a military statement said.
It said Palestinian militants in Shuja’iya were wiped out and dozens of terrorist infrastructure above and below ground were demolished, including tunnel shafts.
‘Downshift’
In central Gaza, witnesses said the Nuseirat refugee camp was attacked, where the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least one person, a child, killed.
Other parts of the Gaza Strip have been struggling with nearly nine months of fighting that began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Meanwhile, months-long talks on a ceasefire and hostage release have produced little progress, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declaring that the “acute phase” of the war was coming to an end.
“We have heard the Israelis talk about significantly reducing their operations in Gaza,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.
“It remains to be seen.”
The latest order to abandon parts of southern Gaza comes nearly two months after the evacuation of Rafah, which signaled the start of a long-feared Israeli ground assault.
Fighting since then has left many Palestinians homeless and closed a major aid crossing.
The United Nations and relief agencies have expressed concern about the dire humanitarian crisis and the risk of starvation for Gaza’s 2.4 million people caused by the war and Israeli siege.
The war, which began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, has resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, 42 of whom the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes aimed at wiping out Palestinian militants in Gaza have killed at least 37,900 people, the vast majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Israeli authorities on Monday released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital — the territory’s largest medical complex — and sent dozens of other detainees back to Gaza for treatment.
Speaking after his release, Abu Salmiya said he had suffered “severe torture” during his detention.
“Many prisoners died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine,” he said.
‘Try to keep the peace’
Israel has accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals for military operations, although Gaza militants have rejected these claims.
Netanyahu, who faces growing anger from protesters over his handling of the conflict as well as pressure from hardline coalition allies, criticised the release and said it was made without his knowledge.
The Israeli Prime Minister said Abu Salmiya should remain “in jail” because Israeli hostages were “murdered” and the hospital he ran was now destroyed.
Repeated Israeli attacks have reduced large parts of Al-Shifa to rubble.
Netanyahu said the director’s return to Gaza was “a serious mistake and a moral failure”.
According to Abu Salmiya, Israel did not file any charges against him during his seven-month detention.
Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said the releases were made “to free up space in detention centers.”
It said those released “posed a low threat” and were not directly involved in attacks on Israeli civilians.
Thousands of people attended an event in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Monday, calling for an end to the war and “a better reality” for Israelis and Palestinians, according to activist Ibrahim Abu Ahmed.
“At any moment, we can begin to make peace,” said Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari.
“We have tried to make peace before, and we have not been very good at it. So what? We are not very good at making war either, and that does not stop us from trying… Now it is time to try again to make peace.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)