Israel issued new evacuation orders overnight for areas in the southern Gaza Strip and continued its assault on the enclave, despite global condemnation of the devastating attack on a school converted into a shelter.
The Israeli military gave orders early Sunday to evacuate parts of the town of Khan Younis, including parts of an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone from which the army said rockets had been fired. The order came a day after an Israeli airstrike on the al-Tabin school in Gaza City reportedly killed more than 100 people who had sought shelter there.
The area covered by the new evacuation order is one of the largest in the 10-month-long conflict. The announcement was posted on X and sent to residents’ phones in text and audio messages.
“For your own safety, you must be immediately evacuated to the newly created humanitarian zone. The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone,” it said.
The Palestinian Civil Defense Force in the Gaza Strip said more than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Saturday when Israel launched an attack on the Al-Tabin school in Gaza City.
The school – the eighth to be attacked by Israel in recent weeks – was used as shelter by Palestinians displaced by the fighting and devastation in the Gaza Strip.
The head of the government media office in the Gaza Strip told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army used three bombs, each weighing 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms), in its attack.
He said Israel was aware that refugees had sought protection at the school.
The Israeli military said its air force had attacked a “command and control center” that served as a “hideout for terrorists and commanders of the Palestinian Hamas.”
The attack was widely condemned, with Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, joining the chorus overnight.
“Every day, civilians bear the brunt of this conflict amid horror, displacement and endless suffering. The toll of human lives taken by this war becomes clearer with each passing day as we witness another devastating attack on a school housing thousands of displaced Palestinians, leaving dozens dead,” he said in a statement.
The statement referred to ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire agreement and concluded that “an end to this nightmare is long overdue.”
Tens of thousands of people left their homes and shelters overnight and moved west towards al-Mawasi and north towards Deir el-Balah, places already overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Maha Freih told Al Jazeera it was the eighth time she had been displaced since the Gaza war began in October.
“It’s only been a week since I came home to rebuild. But I don’t think I’ll ever find my house again,” she said.
“We are subjected to terrible humiliation and suffering. We do not know where to go. There is no safe place in the entire Gaza Strip. Anyone who dares to say there is a safe zone is a liar.”
Hani al-Fajm, another displaced Palestinian, said it was the third time in a short period of time that he had been displaced and the sixth time since the war began.
“We had only been back home for five days when we were suddenly told we had to leave,” he said.
According to the United Nations, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced from their homes, while the besieged enclave has been largely reduced to rubble.
Both UN and Palestinian officials say there are no safe zones in the Gaza Strip because areas previously designated as humanitarian zones have been bombed several times by Israeli forces.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing nearly 1,200 people and capturing about 250 others. About 40,000 Palestinians were killed, while many more are believed to lie under the rubble of the destroyed enclave.
