DEIR AL-BALA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of some crowded areas in the Gaza Strip on Monday. Humanitarian AreasThe Israeli government has announced plans for an operation against Hamas fighters in the country, forcing many Palestinians who had sought refuge in the country in recent weeks to flee anew.
Thousands of Palestinians, many with backpacks and children in tow, walked along dusty roads under the scorching sun, strapping their belongings onto old cars as they drove past buildings destroyed in earlier attacks. Many Palestinians Uprooted many times seeking safety during Israeli air and ground operations;
“We don’t know where we are walking,” said Khoroud Al Dadas, holding her children. “This is our seventh or eighth flight. We were sleeping in our house, and they were shooting at us, bombing us from everywhere.” Minutes later, she collapsed from exhaustion.
Reflecting the shrinking space available for Palestinians to live, the new evacuation orders reduce by about 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) the 60 square kilometer (23 square mile) “humanitarian area” where Israel is urging Palestinians to flee attacks.
The new order covers mostly parts of the southern city of Khan Yunis, which has been flooded with displaced people since early May. Israeli forces attack Rafahand further south. UN officials said it was not immediately clear how many people were in the evacuation zone.
Israeli airstrikes struck the Khan Yunis neighborhood on Monday, killing at least 70 people, the Gaza Health Ministry said, citing figures from Nasser Hospital. Associated Press footage showed smoke drifting into the air above the city after the explosion. Another airstrike outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where many were living in tents on the street, killed one person and wounded three.
The Israeli military said it was planning operations against Hamas fighters who were hiding out in humanitarian areas and using them to fire rockets into Israel.
Israel declared the zone early in the war to be centered around Mwassi, a mostly rural area of sand dunes on the Mediterranean coast. At the time, the army said in November that it would only attack it for precision strikes against individual Hamas leaders, saying it was “not a safe zone, but it is safer than anywhere else in Gaza.” In May, it expanded the zone to accommodate people fleeing Rafah, then home to more than half of Gaza’s population.
Israel estimated earlier this month that there are at least 1.8 million Palestinians in the expanded occupied territories – most of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
Despite its name, the area has few humanitarian facilities. Tent Camping Beaches, open spaces and streets lack sanitation and medical facilities, and access to aid is limited, according to the United Nations and humanitarian groups. Mountains of garbage and a stream polluted with sewage.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll from Israel’s nine-month war with Hamas in Gaza had risen to more than 39,000 Palestinians killed and 89,800 wounded. The ministry’s figures did not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
War Attack by Hamas fighters The terrorist attack that occurred in southern Israel on October 7 left 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead and about 250 people taken hostage. According to Israeli authorities, about 120 people are still being held captive, about one-third of whom are believed to have died.
As delicate negotiations continue on a ceasefire and hostage release, U.S. and Israeli officials expressed hope that an agreement is closer than ever. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a negotiating team would be sent to continue the talks on Thursday. Egypt, Qatar and the United States are pressuring Israel and Hamas to reach a phased ceasefire agreement that would stop fighting and release the hostages.
Netanyahu departed on a long-awaited visit to the United States on Monday to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress, after Biden announced on Sunday that he would not seek re-election. Netanyahu said that regardless of who the next US president is, “our enemies need to know that Israel and the United States will be together tomorrow and forever.” He thanked Biden for more than 40 years of friendship and said he would ask for further assistance on certain issues.
The Israeli military said it was continuing operations in central and southern Gaza. At least 38 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to a death toll count by hospital officials and an Associated Press reporter. One person was killed and three wounded in the attack outside Al-Aqsa hospital in the central town of Deir al-Bala, where many people had sought refuge.
The Israeli army announced the deaths of two more Israeli hostages, saying that based on intelligence, it believed that Yagev Bukshtab, 35, and Alex Dansig, 76, who were kidnapped on October 7, were no longer alive. Both were seen alive in Gaza by other released hostages. Dansig, a Holocaust educator, had been giving the hostages history lessons to pass the time, according to the Forum of Families of Missing Hostages.
Netanyahu has vowed to wipe out Hamas’ military and governing powers and ensure the return of the remaining hostages. Their families and thousands of Israelis have been holding weekly demonstrations calling on the prime minister to reach a deal. Ceasefire Agreement You will be bringing your loved one home.
Also on Monday, Israeli police said a Canadian man died after threatening Israeli security forces with a knife near the Gaza border. According to the Israeli military, the man drove to the entrance to an Israeli town near the border, got out of his car and approached security forces holding the knife. Security forces opened fire, killing the man. No one else was injured.
The attack took place at the entrance to the Israeli town of Netiv Ha’Asala, 300 metres north of the border. According to Israeli military officials, armed men used paragliders to cross the concrete border wall and attacked Netiv Ha’Asala on October 7, killing 20 residents.
Israel has experienced a wave of stabbings across the country during the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the United Nations accused Israel of targeting a U.N. humanitarian convoy in central Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the U.N.’s main aid agency for Palestinians in Gaza, said Israel fired on the convoy near an Israeli military checkpoint on Sunday, with five bullets clearly hitting a U.N. armored vehicle.
Lazzarini said the convoy’s movement had been coordinated with the Israeli army. No one was injured, but Lazzarini accused the army of targeting humanitarian workers. The Israeli army did not immediately comment.
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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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