Israel orders more Gaza evacuations after school shelter attack kills scores
Israel faces anger over Gaza school strike rescuers say killed 93
Published : Monday, 12 August, 2024 at 12:00 AM Count : 226
CAIRO, Aug 11: Israel expanded evacuation orders in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinian residents and displaced families to leave in the dark as explosions from tank shelling reverberated around them.
The Israeli military said it was attacking militants from the Hamas group - which administered Gaza before the war - who were using those areas to stage attacks and fire rockets.
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City killed at least 90 people, according to the civil defence service, prompting an international outcry.
The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant command post, an allegation the two groups rejected as a pretext, and killed 19 militants.
In Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, the evacuation instruction covered districts in the centre, east and west, making it one of the largest such orders in the 10-month-old conflict, two days after tanks returned to the east of the city.
The announcement was posted on X and in text and audio messages to residents' phones: "For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the newly created humanitarian zone. The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone."
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said people in Gaza were trapped and had nowehere to go.
"Some are only able to carry their children with them, some carry their whole lives in one small bag. They are going to overcrowded places where shelters are already overflowing with families. They have lost everything and need everything," he said.
The Israeli army said it had struck around 30 Hamas military targets in the previous 24 hours, including military structures, anti-tank missile launch posts, and weapons storage facilities.
The Islamic Jihad armed wing said fighters fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces massing in the eastern areas of Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, Rescuers in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians killed 93 people on Saturday, sparking international condemnation despite Israel's insistence that it was targeting militants. AFP could not independently verify the toll which, if confirmed, would be one of the largest from a single strike during 10 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants since Hamas's October 7 attack.
The bombardment of Al-Tabieen religious school and mosque drew criticism from across the Middle East and beyond alongside calls for a ceasefire, after international mediators invited the warring sides to resume talks towards a long-sought truce and hostage-release deal.
Civil defence rescuers in the Hamas-ruled territory said three Israeli missiles hit the complex in Gaza City while people were performing dawn prayers. The military confirmed it had used "three precise munitions". —REUTERS, AFP
