The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck rocket launch pads in southern Gaza overnight after rockets were fired from the war-torn coastal strip.
To avoid civilian casualties, residents of eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis city were asked to leave the affected area, the military said.
Eyewitnesses reported that thousands of people fled to supposedly safe areas further west, but they were already overcrowded.
At least 31 people have been killed in the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza, according to Palestinian reports.
Seventeen Palestinians died in Gaza city alone, Hamas-controlled medical sources reported as Israeli forces continued their operations.
According to the sources, eight more people were killed in attacks in southern Gaza.
The information could not initially be independently verified. When asked, the Israeli military said it was checking the reports.
An estimated 1.7 million Palestinians, about 85% of the Gaza Strip’s population, have been displaced as a result of the Israeli offensive since October last year.
At least 37,765 Palestinians have been killed and another 86,429 wounded in Gaza since then, according to health authorities.
The war began after the October 7 attacks, when Hamas gunmen and other militants killed more than 1,200 people in communities in southern Israel.
About 20 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Monday, the Israeli military said. No casualties were reported. Some rockets were reportedly intercepted by missile defenses, while others landed in open terrain. Hamas said it fired the rockets.
An air raid siren was sounded in towns near the Gaza border and people were forced to take shelter.
The Israeli military again accused Hamas of systematically violating international law and using civilian infrastructure as a cover for weapons.
The military repeatedly reports of rocket launch pads in residential areas, weapons depots in schools and tunnels for fighters under hospitals.
Israeli ground forces with air support remain present in Shejaiya, a residential area in eastern Gaza City, and in the center of the Gaza Strip and in the south in the town of Rafah.
Fighting continued in other parts of Gaza, the army said. Officials reported the deaths of two soldiers in an operation, while another was seriously wounded.
