Israel Orders Evacuations in Gaza’s Second-largest City
Israel urged people living in part of the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city to evacuate Monday, as Israeli troops carried out ground fighting and airstrikes targeting Hamas militants.
The Israeli military told people in neighborhoods on the northeastern side of Khan Younis to leave for their own safety, directing them to areas farther south.
Khan Younis is in southern Gaza, where many civilians fled to as Israel began its campaign against Hamas in the northern part of the enclave.
While Israel has issued multiple rounds of warnings for people to flee areas that later came under attack, it has also faced criticism from U.N. officials who say the conditions in Gaza with unreliable electricity and internet access make it difficult for people to access information.
The U.N. has also warned of the humanitarian situation in Gaza with an estimated 80% of the population displaced from their homes and many staying in overcrowded shelters.
In addition to Israeli troops expanding operations into regions where civilians previously sought shelter, there were also concerns about the impact that more intense fighting in southern Gaza would have on the flow of humanitarian aid, which has come in through the southern border with Egypt.
The Israeli military said Monday it had attacked 200 Hamas targets overnight, including destroying militant operations sites located inside schools in northern Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of embedding itself in and underneath hospitals and other civilian areas and encouraging civilians to ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate ahead of airstrikes, using them in effect as human shields, an accusation Hamas has denied.
At least 300 Palestinians have been killed since the collapse of a week-long Israel-Hamas truce Friday morning, raising the death toll in Gaza since the October Hamas attack to more than 15,200 people with more than 40,000 wounded, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. The ministry says 70% of the victims are women and children.
After the breakdown of the truce, Netanyahu’s office announced it had instructed its negotiating team in Doha, Qatar to return to Israel.
Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel in October. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and some 240 captives taken.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.