Israel’s military issued an evacuation order to residents in the southern part of Khan Younis, warning it would “forcefully operate” in the embattled Gazan town, according to a statement on Saturday morning.
Khan Younis has faced intensifying bombardment recently, and a fresh Israeli ground assault earlier this week killed dozens of Palestinians there. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned on Monday it would reduce its so-called humanitarian zone in the eastern part of the city, due to intelligence that militant group Hamas had embedded in the area.
Tens of thousands have been displaced over the past week. Israel said Friday that about 100 militants had been killed during recent fighting.
“The IDF is about to forcefully operate against the terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the southern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi,” the military wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
The designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi has come under repeated Israeli attacks, including a strike on July 14 which reportedly killed 90 people and injured 300 more.
The statement said the move was in retaliation to “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire” emanating from southern Khan Younis. It added that the location previously defined as a humanitarian area “will be adjusted.”
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on October 7 after Hamas attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted, according to Israeli authorities.
The military said on Saturday that “the calls for the temporary evacuation are being communicated to residents through SMS messages, recorded voice messages, phone calls, media broadcasts in Arabic and flyers,” adding that the early warning to civilians was “being made in order to mitigate harm to the civilian population.”
The United Nations estimated that about 150,000 people fled the area on Monday alone, following evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, intensifying pressure on meager supplies of food and water, and places to seek shelter.
Aid agencies working in Gaza have warned previously that new rounds of evacuation orders are making the delivery of emergency rations even more difficult.
“People in Gaza are exhausted, living in inhumane conditions, with no safety at all,” the UN Relief and Works Agency posted on X on Monday.
On Thursday, the IDF said it had recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages the previous day from a tunnel in an area of Khan Younis which it had previously designated as a “humanitarian area.”