Israel orders more evacuations following deadly strike on Gaza school
The Israeli military has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza following a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Israel acknowledged the strike, claiming that it hit a Hamas command centre within the school, killing 19 people.
Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops have returned to heavily destroyed areas where they had previously battled Palestinians.
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The vast majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have already been displaced by the 10-month-old war, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands have crammed into squalid tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools like the one struck on Saturday.
Palestinians say nowhere in the besieged territory feels safe.
The latest evacuation orders apply to areas in Khan Younis, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the military said rockets had been fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.
Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, suffered widespread destruction during an air and ground offensive earlier this year. Tens of thousands fled again last week after an earlier evacuation order.
Hundreds of families carrying their belongings in their arms left their homes and shelters early Sunday, seeking elusive refuge.
“We don’t know where to go,” said Amal Abu Yahia, a mother of three, who had returned to Khan Younis in June to shelter in their severely damaged home. “This is my fourth displacement," the 42-year-old widow said - her husband was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit their neighbours’ house in March.
She said they went to Muwasi, a sprawling tent camp along the coast, but could not find any space.
Ramadan Issa, a father of five in his 50s, fled Khan Younis with 17 members of his extended family, joining hundreds of people walking toward central Gaza early Sunday.
“Every time we settle in one place and build tents for women and children, the occupation comes and bombs the area," he said, referring to Israel. "This situation is unbearable.”
Gaza's Health Ministry says the number of Palestinians killed in the 10-month-old war is approaching 40,000, but it has not given details as to how many of those are civilians.
Aid groups have struggled to address the staggering humanitarian crisis in the territory, while international experts have warned of famine.
The war began when Hamas-led militants burst through Israel's defences on October 7 and rampaged through farming communities and army bases near the border, killing some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting around 250 people.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to mediate a ceasefire and the return of the roughly 110 remaining hostages, around a third of whom Israeli authorities believe to be deceased.
The conflict has meanwhile threatened to trigger a regional war, as Israel has traded fire with Iran and its militant allies across the region.
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