Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone as war's toll passes 39,000 Palestinians

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military ordered the evacuation Monday of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants there. The order triggered a new flight of Palestinians, many of whom had taken refuge there just in the past weeks.

Thousands of Palestinians, many carrying backpacks and accompanied by children, walked down dusty roads under the scorching sun. Dilapidated cars with belongings tied on top maneuvered past buildings flattened by previous strikes. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's air and ground campaign.

“We do not know where we are walking,” said Kholoud Al Dadas, as she clutched her children. “This is our seventh or eighth time we have been displaced. While we were sleeping in our homes, they started shooting at us, bombing from everywhere.” Moments later, she collapsed in exhaustion.

Reflecting the shrinking space for Palestinians, the new evacuation order reduces by some 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) the 60-square kilometer (23 square mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to escape its offensives.

Most of the area covered by the new order comprises parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, which had filled up with people since early May as they fled Israel troops assaulting Rafah, further south. The number of people in the evacuation zone was not immediately known, U.N. officials said.

On Monday, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital. Associated Press video showed a pall of smoke drifting over the city after one explosion. Another strike hit outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central town of Deir-Al-Balah, where many people were living in tents on the street, killing one person and wounding three.

The Israeli military said it is planning an operation against Hamas militants who have embedded themselves in the humanitarian zone and used it to launch rockets toward Israel.

Israel first declared the zone early in the war, centered on Muwasi, a largely rural area of dunes on the Mediterranean coast. At the time, in November, the military said it would only strike there with precision hits on individual Hamas leaders, saying it was “not a safe zone, but it is a safer place than any other” in Gaza. It expanded the zone in May to take in people fleeing Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population at the time had crowded.

Earlier this month, Israel estimated at least 1.8 million Palestinians were in the expanded zone – the bulk of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million people.

Despite its name, the area has few humanitarian provisions. The tent camps that fill the beaches, empty lots and streets lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, U.N. and humanitarian groups say. Families live amid mountains of trash and streams contaminated by sewage.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the toll from Israel’s nine-month war against Hamas in Gaza has surpassed 39,000 Palestinians killed and 89,800 wounded. The ministry’s count does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The war began with an assault by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 120 remain held, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.

Delicate negotiations continued for a cease-fire and hostage release, with U.S. and Israeli officials expressing hope that an agreement was closer than ever. A negotiating team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. Egypt, Qatar and the United States are pushing Israel and Hamas toward a phased cease-fire deal that would stop the fighting and free the hostages.

Netanyahu left Monday on a much-anticipated trip to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden, who on Sunday said he would not seek another term, and address Congress. Netanyahu said that regardless of who becomes the next U.S. president, “our enemies must know that Israel and the United States stand together tomorrow and always.” He said he will thank Biden for more than 40 years of friendship, while pushing him for more support on certain issues.

The Israeli military said it was continuing to operate in central and southern Gaza. At least 38 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital officials and a count of the bodies by an Associated Press journalist. One person was killed and three injured in a strike outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central town of Deir-Al-Balah, where many people have sheltered outside the facility

The Israeli military announced the deaths of two additional Israeli hostages, saying they believe Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, kidnapped on Oct. 7, were no longer alive, based on intelligence. Both were seen alive in Gaza by other hostages who had been released. Dancyg, a Holocaust educator, gave history lectures to hostages to pass the time, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

Netanyahu has vowed to wipe out Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and secure the return of the remaining hostages. Families of hostages and thousands of other Israelis have held weekly demonstrations to urge the prime minister to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring their loved ones home.

Also Monday, Israeli police said a Canadian citizen was killed after threatening Israeli security forces with a knife near the Gaza border. The Israeli military said the man drove to the entrance of an Israeli town close to the border, left his vehicle and approached security forces with a knife. The forces opened fire and killed the man. There were no other injuries.

The attack took place at the entrance to the Israeli town of Netiv HaAsara, 300 meters (yards) north of the border. On Oct. 7, Netiv HaAsara was attacked and 20 residents were killed after gunmen passed over the concrete border wall using paragliders, according to Israeli military officials.

Israel has experienced a wave of stabbing attacks across the country during the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the United Nations accused Israel of targeting a U.N. humanitarian convoy in central Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the main U.N. group supporting Palestinians in Gaza, said that on Sunday Israel shot at the convoy near an Israeli military checkpoint and five bullets pierced the clearly marked armored U.N. vehicle.

Lazzarini said the convoy’s movement had been coordinated with Israeli forces. No one was injured, but Lazzarini condemned the military for targeting humanitarian workers. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war