Thousands of Palestinians flee their homes in Khan Yunis as Israeli forces bomb southern Gaza
- Evacuation came as Israel released the director of what was once Gaza’s largest hospital after holding him for seven months without charge or trial
Israeli forces bombarded several areas of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in what could be part of a final push of Israel’s intensive military operations in nine months of war.
Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded, health officials said. Israel’s military said that two soldiers had been killed in battle a day earlier.
Israel’s leaders have said they were winding down the phase of intense fighting against Hamas, the Islamist group that has governed Gaza since 2007, and would soon shift into more targeted operations.
Later on Tuesday, 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli tank shelling of a street in the densely populated Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City in the north of the Strip, doctors said. Footage on some Palestinian social media that was not verified showed the scene at a local market, with bread scattered on a floor stained with blood.
The Israeli army had ordered residents of several towns and villages in eastern Khan Younis to evacuate their homes on Monday, before tanks re-entering the area the military had left several weeks ago.
The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees estimated on Tuesday that a quarter of a million people had been impacted since Israel’s army issued the new evacuation order for parts of southern Gaza a day earlier.