Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip: Israeli forces ordered further evacuations in southern Gaza early Sunday after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, local health officials said. Israel said it had targeted a militant command post, killing at least 19 militants.
Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops return to heavily devastated areas battling Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced several times by the 10-month-old war.
Hundreds of thousands have crammed into empty tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools like those struck on Saturday. Palestinians say nowhere in the besieged area is safe.
The latest evacuation orders apply to areas of Khan Younis, including part of the Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the army fired rockets. Israel has accused Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and attacking residential areas.
Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city, suffered extensive destruction during air and ground attacks earlier this year. Tens of thousands fled again after the evacuation order last week.
Hundreds of families with belongings in their hands left their homes and shelters early Sunday morning to seek shelter.
“We don't know where to go,” said Amal Abu Yahia, a mother of three, who returned to her severely damaged home in Khan Younis in June to seek shelter. “This is my fourth displacement,” said the 42-year-old widow, whose husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a neighbor's house in March.
She said they went to Muwasi, a sprawling tent camp on the coast, but could not find a place.
Ramzan Issa, a 50-year-old father of five, fled Khan Younis with 17 members of his extended family and joined hundreds of people marching toward central Gaza early Sunday morning.
“When we stay in one place and build tents for women and children, occupation comes and bombs explode in the area,” he said, referring to Israel. “This situation is intolerable.”
Gaza's health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war had approached 40,000, without specifying how many were fighters. Aid groups have struggled to address the massive humanitarian crisis in the region, while international experts have warned of famine.
The war erupted on October 7 when Hamas-led militants stormed Israel's defenses and attacked farming communities and army bases near the border, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250 others.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months brokering a ceasefire and the return of about 110 remaining hostages, about a third of whom Israeli officials believe are dead. The conflict has meanwhile threatened to trigger a regional war, as Israel has traded fire with Iran and its militant allies in the region.
Saturday's strike hit a mosque inside a school in Gaza City where thousands of people had taken shelter. Gaza's health ministry said 80 people were killed and about 50 wounded. The Israeli military disputed the toll, saying it had killed 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in precision strikes.
Gaza City and the rest of the north have been surrounded by Israeli forces and largely cut off from the world since late last year, and it is not possible to independently confirm the details of the strike.
The U.N. human rights office said Israel has carried out “systematic attacks on schools,” which have served as shelters since the start of the war, with at least 21 strikes since July 4, killing hundreds, including women and children.
European leaders condemned the strike, while the US said it was concerned about reports of civilian casualties. Speaking to reporters traveling with her in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris said: “Again, many civilians have been killed.”
“We need a hostage deal and we need a ceasefire,” she said. “The deal needs to be done and it needs to be done now.”
