Israeli forces intensified their attacks across Gaza, shelling a refugee camp in the center of the strip while tanks moved deeper into eastern parts of the southern city of Rafah.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Israeli military planes struck a house on Tuesday, killing at least 14 Palestinians, including children, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The Israeli army has ordered more residents to evacuate parts of the north, where fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters has resumed in recent days after Israel sent its troops back to the region, months after claimed to have defeated Hamas there.
Israeli tanks, bulldozers and armored vehicles surrounded the evacuation zones and shelters of the Jabalia refugee camp, the largest refugee camp in the north, now largely destroyed.
Violent firefights continued Tuesday evening in the camp.
In Rafah, bordering Egypt, Palestinian residents said Tuesday they could see smoke rising above the eastern neighborhoods of the city and heard explosions after Israel bombed a group of homes .
Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it destroyed an Israeli personnel carrier with an Al-Yassin 105 missile in the eastern district of As-Salam, killing some crew members and injuring others .
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The UN says more than half a million Palestinians have been displaced in recent days due to intensifying Israeli military operations in southern and northern Gaza.
Evacuation orders in the north have so far displaced at least 100,000 people, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Monday.
In Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, where a widely criticized Israeli ground operation is underway, around 450,000 Palestinians have been driven from the town over the past week, according to the United Nations refugee agency Palestinians (UNRWA).
More than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in the southernmost town of Rafah after being forced to flee their homes in other parts of Gaza that have been subject to intense Israeli bombardment since October .
UN chief ‘dismayed’ by Rafah operation
UN chief Antonio Guterres is “dismayed” by the escalation of Israeli military activity in and around Rafah, his spokesperson said.
“Civilians must be respected and protected at all times, in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza. For the people of Gaza, no place is safe now,” Stéphane Dujarric said, adding that Guterres had again called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
The forced expulsion of Palestinians has made it increasingly difficult for aid workers to distribute dwindling humanitarian aid to families facing catastrophic levels of hunger in makeshift tent camps.
Israeli forces continue to bar the entry of humanitarian supplies through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt after they seized the Palestinian side on May 7.
Rare aid has been used to enter the Gaza Strip via the crossing since October 7.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Egypt must be “persuaded” to reopen the Rafah border crossing to “allow the continued flow of international humanitarian aid” to Gaza.
His comment sparked an angry response from Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who said in a statement that Israel’s capture of the Rafah crossing and its military operations in the region were the main obstacles to entry of aid into Gaza.
Seven months of Israeli bombings and ground attacks in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The Palestinian Authority announced Tuesday that 80 percent of Gaza’s health centers are currently out of service.
Gaza’s civil defense says that with a dire lack of adequate vehicles and equipment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for its teams to carry out their work, including removing “thousands” of bodies from the rubble.
Without these tools, it would take about six years to recover the bodies of slain Palestinians that remain beneath the rubble and widespread destruction.
