GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Monday that an Israeli operation in the main southern city of Khan Yunis killed 70 people and wounded more than 200, after Israel warned that its forces would “operate vigorously” in the area .
Thousands of Palestinians fled southern areas of the territory following the Israeli army's temporary evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis, including the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
Israel's military said it would act to curb rocket fire in the area, which was hit by heavy fighting earlier this year.
The latest incident comes days after the health ministry said 92 people were killed in an attack on Al-Mawasi, when Israel said it targeted a Hamas commander.
Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 12 people were killed Monday in Gaza City, and four others were killed in the Jabalia refugee camp.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and has launched intensive military operations in areas of Gaza it had previously declared free of the militants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure to reach an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages, arrived in Washington on Monday to address the US Congress.
Netanyahu will meet on Thursday with US President Joe Biden, who has pushed him to agree to a ceasefire, more than nine months into the Gaza war that was ignited by the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attacks on Israel.
In late June, Netanyahu said the war “in its intense phase” was coming to an end.
The evacuation order for the Al-Mawasi area came just two months after the military directed Palestinians there for their own safety.
“Due to the Israeli occupation's attacks and massacres in Khan Yunis governorate from early morning until now, 70 people have been martyred and more than 200 injured,” the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military did not comment on the tariff when asked by AFP.
But in a statement, the military said its warplanes and tanks “struck and eliminated terrorists in the area.”
It said forces targeted more than “30 terror infrastructure” sites in Khan Yunis. Israeli warplanes also hit a weapons storage facility, observation posts, tunnel shafts and structures used by Hamas militants, it added.
Ahead of yet another move, Palestinians filled the dusty streets of Khan Yunis with cars, motorcycles, donkey carts and on foot, with whatever belongings they could.
Hassan Qudayh said his family fled in “panic”.
“We happily cooked breakfast for our children, because we had been safe for a month, only to be stunned by grenades, warning leaflets and martyrs in the streets,” he told AFPTV.
“This is the 14th or 15th time we've been evicted.
“Enough! We have suffered for 10 months.”
Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7 led to the deaths of 1,197 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's military retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, including most civilians, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The relentless fighting has plunged Gaza into a serious humanitarian crisis.
Yussef Abu Taimah from Al-Qarara in Khan Yunis said his family went to the humanitarian zone but found no space.
“Even the sidewalks are full of people and tents. We are tired and weary. Enough of this displacement and migration.”
Months of intermittent talks on the first ceasefire and the exchange of hostages and prisoners since November have yielded little progress.
Netanyahu will deliver a landmark address to Congress on Wednesday amid unprecedented tensions between Israel and its ally the United States.
The Israeli leader has repeatedly resisted pressure from the Biden administration to accept a ceasefire, which far-right members of his coalition oppose.
Biden vowed on Monday to continue working to find a solution in his final months in office, a day after announcing he was withdrawing from the US presidential race.
“I will work very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians” to end the war, achieve peace in the Middle East and return the hostages, he said in a public address at his campaign headquarters.
Netanyahu will hold a separate meeting during his visit with US Vice President Kamala Harris, who looks set to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, an aide to Harris told AFP on Monday.
Washington fears a vocal backlash over the escalating civil war in Gaza, while protests by anti-government protesters and families of hostages in Israel pressure Netanyahu at home.
“Never before has the atmosphere been so charged,” said Steven Cook, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“There are obviously tensions in the relationship, particularly between the White House and the Israeli prime minister,” Cook said in a statement.
The visit comes with the Gaza war once again fueling regional violence.
Israel attacked Yemen for the first time on Saturday, in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv by the Iran-backed Houthis.
There were also further exchanges of fire between Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and the Israeli military over the weekend, as tensions remained high along the border.
An Israeli delegation will travel to Doha on Thursday to discuss new demands for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange, a source familiar with the talks said.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
