The Israeli army has urged residents of a northern neighbourhood in Khan Younis to leave the area immediately ahead of a new military operation in the Gaza Strip city.
The al-Jalaa neighbourhood of Khan Younis will no longer be considered part of a humanitarian zone due to “significant terrorist activity” there, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday.
The IDF said civilians in al-Jalaa should move to a redrawn humanitarian zone. The IDF said residents had been informed via SMS, telephone calls, flyers and other messages in Arabic.
“The adjustment is being carried out in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terrorist infrastructure in the area defined as a humanitarian area,” the IDF said.
Nearly 100 people were reported killed in a devastating Israeli airstrike on a school building in Gaza City on Saturday, Palestinians said.
A spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian civil defence said at least 93 people died in the building, which was being used as a refugee shelter. The incident prompted international outrage.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack, which it said targeted a Hamas command centre located in the building. At least 19 commanders and fighters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed, the IDF said.