The Israeli military has instructed civilians to temporarily evacuate a section of its designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza in preparation for what it described as a “forceful operation” against Palestinian armed groups.
The military said there had been “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire” from eastern neighbourhoods of the city of Khan Younis and told residents to head to the “adjusted” al-Mawasi humanitarian area.
Palestinians reported that the announcement was followed by intense Israeli air and artillery strikes in and around Khan Younis.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry stated that at least 14 people, including six children and four women, were killed.
The ministry also urged residents to donate blood at Nasser hospital in western Khan Younis to help treat the large number of casualties arriving at the facility.
Much of Gaza’s second city was destroyed in an Israeli offensive earlier this year, but large numbers of people returned after Israeli troops began an operation in the southernmost city of Rafah in May.
At the start of this month, tens of thousands were displaced again after the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order for other eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis as well as nearby towns and villages.
They were instructed to go to the humanitarian zone, which stretches along the coast from al-Mawasi to the central town of Deir al-Balah, despite UN warnings that it was already overcrowded with tents and lacking basic services.
Israel has also conducted several deadly strikes in the humanitarian zone over the past two weeks, claiming they targeted Palestinian fighters operating there.
On July 13, the Gaza health ministry reported that more than 90 people were killed in an Israeli strike inside al-Mawasi that targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing.
The Israeli military said on Friday that there were “increasing signs” that Mohammed Deif was among the dead, although Hamas was concealing what had happened to him. The military also confirmed that the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade was killed in the strike.
In a separate development on Monday, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) accused Israeli forces of firing at a marked UN convoy that was heading to Gaza City.
One armoured car was hit by at least five bullets while waiting near an Israeli checkpoint south of the Wadi Gaza river valley on Sunday, Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The vehicle was severely damaged, and UN personnel were forced to take cover, but there were no casualties, he added.
Mr. Lazzarini said the convoy’s movement had been coordinated with Israeli authorities and demanded that “those responsible must be held accountable.”
The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Israel launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 38,980 people have been killed in the territory since then.