Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of residents in Beit Hanoun, a town in northern Gaza, on Sunday as part of an ongoing offensive. The military cited rocket fire from the area by Palestinian militants as the reason for the order, residents reported.
The evacuation order triggered a new wave of displacement, though the exact number of affected individuals remains unclear. Israel’s nearly three-month-long campaign in northern Gaza targets Hamas militants, with the goal of preventing them from regrouping. The Israeli military stated that evacuations are intended to protect civilians from harm.
However, Palestinian and United Nations officials argue that no area in Gaza is safe and that the mass evacuations have exacerbated the region’s already dire humanitarian conditions. Much of northern Gaza, including Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya, has been depopulated and demolished, fueling concerns that Israel may seek to establish a permanent buffer zone in the area.
The Israeli military confirmed a renewed push into Beit Hanoun on Saturday. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service reported that it lost contact with individuals trapped in the town, and its teams were unable to access the area due to ongoing military operations.
On Friday, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, claiming that militants were using the facility. Hamas denied the accusation. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the raid put the hospital, one of the last functioning medical centers in the region, out of service. Patients were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital, which was also non-operational, and other medical facilities, while medical personnel were unable to join them.
In another incident on Sunday, an Israeli tank shell struck the upper floor of Al-Ahly Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, damaging its X-ray division, according to health officials.
Palestinian health authorities reported that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 16 people across Gaza on Sunday. One attack on Al-WAFA Hospital in Gaza City killed seven people and injured several others. The Israeli military said the strike targeted members of Hamas’ “Aerial Defence Unit,” claiming the facility was no longer a hospital and had been used for military operations.
Since the start of the conflict, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. With most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents displaced, much of the territory is in ruins.
The war began after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
