The Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza early Sunday, a day after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter<\/a> in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. The airstrike was one of the deadliest attacks in the 10-month war<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops return to heavily destroyed areas where they previously battled Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza\u2019s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, in the besieged territory<\/a> 25 miles (40 kilometers) long by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide.<\/p>\n The latest evacuation orders apply to areas of Khan Younis, Gaza\u2019s second-largest city, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the military said rockets had been fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.<\/p>\n The humanitarian zone has steadily shrunk during the war with the various evacuation orders. Hundreds of thousands of people have crammed into squalid tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools, though the United Nations says hundreds of those have been directly hit or damaged.<\/p>\n Khan Younis suffered widespread destruction<\/a> during an air and ground offensive earlier this year. Tens of thousands fled again last week after an evacuation order.<\/p>\n The new order came in leaflets dropped from the sky. As smoke rose on the horizon, hundreds of families carrying belongings in their arms left homes and shelters, seeking elusive refuge. One child carried a stuffed Hello Kitty doll as others walked through rubble-filled streets.<\/p>\n 50 bodies were found in a mass grave in a hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, days after Israeli forces first withdrew. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know where to go,\u201d said Amal Abu Yahia, a mother of three, who had returned to Khan Younis in June to shelter in their severely damaged home. It was the fourth displacement for the 42-year-old widow, whose husband was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit their neighbors\u2019 house in March.<\/p>\n She said they went to Muwasi, a sprawling tent camp along the coast, but couldn\u2019t find space.<\/p>\n Ramadan Issa, a father of five in his 50s, fled Khan Younis with 17 members of his extended family, joining hundreds of people walking toward central Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time we settle in one place and build tents for women and children, the occupation comes and bombs the area,\u201d he said, referring to Israel. \u201cThis situation is unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which doesn\u2019t distinguish between civilians and combatants, says the Palestinian death toll from the war is approaching 40,000. Aid groups have struggled to address the staggering humanitarian crisis, while international experts have warned of famine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The war began when Hamas-led militants burst through Israel\u2019s defenses on Oct. 7 and rampaged through farming communities and army bases near the border, killing around 1,200 people \u2014 mostly civilians \u2014 and abducting around 250 people.<\/p>\n The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to mediate a cease-fire and the return of the roughly 110 remaining hostages<\/a>, around a third of whom Israeli authorities believe to be dead. Talks were due to resume on Thursday.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Palestinian-civil-defence-teams-uncover-mass-grave-at-Khan-Younis.jpg\")
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