CAIRO: The Israeli military on Wednesday issued a new evacuation order for Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip, which was among the first to be attacked when the war with Hamas began in October, after the militants resumed firing rockets at Israel.
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adri posted evacuation orders for several areas of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, two villages that were largely destroyed by Israeli tanks as Israel's ground invasion began.
“Hamas and terrorist groups are firing rockets from your area towards the State of Israel. The IDF will respond strongly and immediately,” Adri said in a text message and social media message to Palestinians.
“For your own safety, please evacuate immediately to known shelters in the heart of Gaza City,” the military spokesman said.
According to medical officials, three Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces struck a house in al-Tufah, near the Gaza Strip.
Later on Wednesday, 10 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza. Medics said one airstrike killed three people on a motorbike west of Khan Yunis, while tank shelling killed seven people when it struck a tent camp in Abasan town, east of the city.
Multiple wires
Following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, Israel has been bracing for an attack by Iran's close Lebanese ally Hezbollah on its northern territory, while fighting continues in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of Gaza militants in recent days, and on Wednesday said the army had struck a weapons manufacturing facility in the Deir al-Balah area in central Gaza, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled their homes because of the fighting.
Elsewhere in the central area, Israeli tanks shelled two of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, Nusseirat and Bureiji. Israel claims Hamas militants use civilian infrastructure as cover to hide their operational bases and weapons depots, a claim Hamas denies.
The militants continued to launch ambushes against Israeli troops and armored vehicles armed with explosive devices, and said they were still capable of launching limited rocket attacks against Israel.
On Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, a close ally of Hamas, said it had fired rockets at Israel in response to Israeli “massacre of civilians.”
The Israeli military said last week that Hamas fired rockets from launchers buried near two international humanitarian aid and distribution depots, including the UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli military added that it attacked the sites.
According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led militants launched a rampage across the border into Gaza on October 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and taking about 250 hostages.
In response, Israel continued its relentless assault on Gaza, reducing much of the densely populated coastal area to rubble and killing more than 39,600 Palestinians and wounding more than 91,500, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The Hamas-led armed group does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death lists.
