Israeli military orders ‘immediate’ evacuation of eastern Khan Younis
The Israeli army has ordered Palestinians living in eastern areas of Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, to urgently leave. “For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
It’s unclear which “humanitarian zone” Adraee alluded to. Recent orders told Palestinians to go to the al-Mawasi area, however, that camp city has repeatedly been attacked. Such evacuation orders generally signal imminent ground assaults by Israeli troops and tanks, such as the operation launched last week in northern Gaza City’s Shujayea district.
Rocket barrage in response to ‘crimes of the Zionist enemy’
The Israeli military evacuation order for eastern Khan Younis comes after the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired a barrage of rockets into Israel. Fighters launched about 20 rockets towards several Israeli communities near the fence with Gaza in response to “the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people”, PIJ said.
The volley caused no casualties, the Israeli military said. But the attack shows Palestinian fighters still possess rocket capabilities almost nine months into Israel’s invasion. The evacuation orders suggest Israeli forces will return to the area, which they left several weeks ago.
Israel almost done eliminating Hamas military capabilities: Netanyahu
Israel is almost finished with eliminating Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza, according to Netanyahu.
“We are advancing to the end of the phase of eliminating the terrorist army of Hamas, and there will be a continuation to strike its remnants,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
Israeli army strikes Gaza City, killing Palestinians
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip and local Palestinian sources are reporting that, a short while ago, the Israeli army shelled a gathering of people near Abdel Aal junction on al-Jalaa Street, in the west of Gaza City.
Our correspondent says that this attack caused the deaths of at least two people and the injury of at least 10 others.
Video shows residents evacuating eastern Khan Younis
A video posted by local residents and verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking Sanad unit shows Palestinians in the eastern part of Khan Younis preparing to leave the area after an Israeli evacuation order.
Some of the injured were wheeled away on their beds, while others cried as they boarded carts jammed with their belongings.
The UN has said that virtually every Palestinian in Gaza has been displaced multiple times since the beginning of the war on October 7.
Israel has ordered residents to urgently leave to an unspecified “humanitarian zone”
Palestinians flee the eastern part of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip
