Cairo: Israel has expanded evacuation orders in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinian residents and displaced families to flee under the cover of darkness as explosions from tank shelling echoed around them.
The Israeli military reported targeting Hamas militants who were allegedly using these areas to launch attacks and fire rockets. On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City, where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, resulted in at least 90 deaths, according to the civil defense service, sparking international condemnation.
The Israeli military asserted that the airstrike targeted a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command post, an assertion rejected by both groups as a pretext. The military claimed the strike killed 19 militants.
In Khan Younis, evacuation orders were issued for central, eastern, and western districts, marking one of the largest evacuation directives in the 10-month-old conflict. This follows a return of tank operations to the city’s east. The evacuation notice, sent via X and text and audio messages, instructed residents: “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the newly created humanitarian zone. The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone.”
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), highlighted the dire situation, stating that Gazans are trapped with nowhere to go. “Some are only able to carry their children with them, some carry their whole lives in one small bag. They are going to overcrowded places where shelters are already overflowing with families. They have lost everything and need everything,” he said.
The Israeli army reported striking approximately 30 Hamas military targets over the past 24 hours, including military structures, anti-tank missile posts, and weapons storage facilities. The Islamic Jihad armed wing responded by firing mortar bombs at Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis.
Later on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike near the Khan Younis market killed four Palestinians and injured several others, according to medics. Residents reported explosions and smoke rising from Israeli attacks on multi-floor buildings in the city.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports nearly 40,000 Palestinian fatalities since the conflict began last October, with the toll increasing daily. Most fatalities are civilians, although Israel claims at least a third are fighters. Israel has reported 329 soldiers killed in Gaza.
The conflict began after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
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Tens of Thousands Evacuated Overnight
The United Nations estimates that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, with the territory reduced to rubble. Officials from Palestine and the UN assert there are no safe areas left, as humanitarian zones like Al-Mawasi in western Khan Younis have been repeatedly bombed.
Tens of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate their homes and shelters overnight, heading toward already overcrowded areas like Mawasi and Deir Al-Balah. Zaki Mohammad, 28, from the Hamad housing project in Khan Younis, described the situation: “We’re exhausted. This is the 10th time I and my family have had to leave our shelter. People are carrying their belongings, their children, their hopes and their fears and running towards the unknown, because there is no safe place. We are running from death to death.”
