New operations planned?

Israeli army calls on Gaza residents to flee

Smoke rises over the southern Gaza Strip.

(Bild: AFP)

The Israeli army has called on the residents of two neighborhoods in Gaza City to flee. The call, issued in Arabic by an Israeli military spokesman on Tuesday, urged residents of the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Turkman neighborhoods to move immediately to a designated area further south on the Mediterranean Sea. This was seen as a sign of imminent new Israeli military operations in the neighborhoods.

According to UN figures, up to 1.7 million of the more than 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have been forced to leave their homes since the war began in October. According to the figures, around 1.5 million people are crowded into the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt alone. Residents of the narrow coastal strip have often had to flee several times. Shelling also occurred in areas that had been classified as safe.

"Intensive operations" in the west of Rafah
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had continued its attacks against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of fighters from the terrorist militia have been killed in the past 24 hours in ongoing "intensive operations" in the west of the town of Khan Younis in the south of the coastal region, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for weeks, the army announced on Tuesday morning. A large weapons depot in the city was also hit. Terrorists have also been killed in the center of the sealed-off Gaza Strip over the past day, the Israeli army added.

Internally displaced persons in a camp in Rafah

(Bild: APA/AFP/Mahmud Hams)

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip, 103 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours. According to the authority, 142 Palestinians have been injured. Neither the information provided by the Israeli military nor the authorities in Gaza can be independently verified.

Many refugees back in their homes
Residents of the northern Gaza Strip have been repeatedly called upon to evacuate their homes in recent months because they have become combat zones. The Israeli offensive has caused devastating destruction there. However, some residents have returned to their homes, although the Israeli army has tried to prevent this.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1200 people were killed in Israel and 250 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. Since then, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip.