DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: The Israeli military ordered continued evacuations in southern Gaza early Sunday after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Israel said it targeted the militants' command post, killing at least 19 fighters.
Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops return to heavily damaged areas where they previously battled Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced by the 10-month war, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands crammed into squalid tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools like the one that took place on Saturday. Palestinians say they do not feel safe anywhere in the besieged territory.
The latest evacuation orders apply to areas in Khan Yunis, including part of the Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from where the military says the rockets were fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.
Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city, suffered widespread destruction during an air and ground offensive earlier this year. Tens of thousands fled again last week after a previous order to evacuate.
Hundreds of families, carrying their belongings in their arms, left their homes and shelters early Sunday in search of the elusive shelter.
“We don't know where to go,” said Amal Abu Yahia, a mother of three who returned to Khan Yunis in June to take shelter in her badly damaged home. “This is my fourth relocation,” said a 42-year-old widow whose husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their neighbors' home in March.
She said they went to Muwasi, a sprawling tented camp along the coast, but couldn't find a place.
Ramadan Issa, a 50-year-old father of five, fled Khan Younis with 17 members of his extended family, joining hundreds of people marching toward central Gaza early Sunday.
“Every time we settle in one place and build tents for women and children, the occupation comes and bombs the area,” he said, referring to Israel. “This situation is intolerable.”
Gaza's health ministry says the number of Palestinians killed in the 10-month war is closer to 40,000, without saying how many were combatants. Aid groups are struggling to deal with a staggering humanitarian crisis in the territory, while international experts warn of famine.
The war began when Hamas-led militants broke through Israeli defenses on October 7 and rampaged through farming communities and military bases near the border, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting about 250.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for months to broker a ceasefire and the return of about 110 hostages, about a third of whom Israeli authorities believe are dead. The conflict, meanwhile, threatened to spark a regional war as Israel engaged in firefights with Iran and its militant allies across the region.
Saturday's strike hit a mosque at a school in Gaza City, where thousands of people have taken refuge. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported 80 dead and about 50 wounded. The Israeli military disputed the death toll, saying the precision strike killed 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.
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 was impossible to independently confirm the details of the strike.
The UN human rights office says Israel has carried out “systematic attacks on schools” that have served as shelters since the start of the war, at least 21 strikes since July 4, leaving hundreds dead, including women and children.
European leaders condemned the strike, while the US said it was concerned by reports of civilian casualties. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking to reporters traveling with her to Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, said: “Too many civilians have been killed again.”
“We need a hostage-taking agreement and a ceasefire,” she said. “A deal has to be done, and it has to be done now.”
