Hundreds Of Thousands Of Residents Refuge During Israel Bombardir Gaza Selatan, PBB: Even Though There Is No Safe Place

Palestinian refugees. (Source: Doctors Without Borders)

JAKARTA - The UN agency is concerned about residents in southern Gaza who are again forced to flee due to the bombing of Israeli troops, when there is no longer a safe area in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli forces bombarded several areas in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, causing Palestinians to flee their homes in what could be part of the final push for Israel's intensive military operations in nine months of war.

Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, health officials said. The Israeli military said two of its personnel were killed in the fighting the day before.

Israeli leaders say they are ending a fierce battle phase against Hamas, an Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, and will soon turn to more targeted operations.

On Tuesday, 17 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli tank shooting on a road in a densely populated Zeitoun settlement in Gaza City north of the Line, medics said.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers ordered residents of several cities and villages in eastern Khan Younis to flee their homes on Monday, before tanks re-entered the military's abandoned territory a few weeks ago.

Thousands of people who did not heed the call were forced to flee their homes in the dark of the night, as Israeli tanks and planes bombed Karara, Abassan and other areas that had been mentioned in the evacuation order, residents and Hamas media said.

"Where are we going?" said Tamer, 55, who has been displaced six times since October 7, reported Reuters July 3.

"Every time people return to their homes and start rebuilding some of their lives even on the rubble of their homes, the occupation sends tanks back to destroy what's left," he said through a chat app.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said its forces attacked areas in Khan Younis where about 20 rockets were fired on Monday. The targets include weapons storage facilities and operational centers, he added.

It said actions had been taken before the attack to allow civilians to flee the area. The military accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure and a wider population of human shields. The Islamic group denied this.

Separately, the UN Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said some 250,000 Palestinians would be forced to leave Khan Yunis again, although there was no safe place in the Gaza Strip.

"Just weeks after people were forced to return to the destroyed Khan Yunis, Israeli authorities had issued a new evacuation order for the area," UNRWA said in X, quoted from WAFA.

"Once again, the families face forced transfer. We estimate 250,000 people must evacuate. Even though there is no safe place in Gaza," the agency added.