Israel expanded forced evacuation orders in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinian residents and displaced families to leave the city in the dark as the explosions of tank attacks echoed around them.
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City where displaced Palestinians had sought refuge killed more than 90 people, according to the Civil Defense Service, sparking an international outcry. Officials in Gaza said the death toll was expected to continue to rise as they assessed the full extent of the damage.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, the evacuation order covered districts in the center, east and west. It was one of the largest evacuation orders of its kind in the 10-month war, two days after tanks returned to the east of the city.
The announcement was posted on social media platform X and in text and audio messages to residents’ phones: “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.”
Tens of thousands left their homes and shelters in the middle of the night and retreated west towards Mawasi and north towards Deir Al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people were already staying.
(Reuters)
Featured image: ABOOD ABUSALAMA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
