Displaced Gazans face relentless evacuations amid escalating conflict

The Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza city of Khan Younis early Sunday after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

Israel said it targeted a militant command post, killing 19 fighters.

Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops have returned to heavily destroyed areas where they had previously battled Palestinian militants.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced by the 10-month-old war, often multiple times.

"This is my fifth or sixth displacement," said Mohammad Ashour who was displaced from Jabaliya, adding that he does not know where to go next.

Hundreds of thousands have crammed into squalid tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools like the one struck on Saturday.

Palestinians say nowhere in the besieged territory feels safe.

The latest evacuation orders apply to areas in Khan Younis, 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.

Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, suffered widespread destruction during an air and ground offensive earlier this year.

Tens of thousands fled again last week after an earlier evacuation order.

Hundreds of families carrying their belongings in their arms left their homes and shelters early Sunday, seeking elusive refuge.

Gaza's Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war is approaching 40,000, without saying how many were fighters.

Aid groups have struggled to address the staggering humanitarian crisis in the territory, while international experts have warned of famine.

The war began when Hamas-led militants burst through Israel's defenses on Oct. 7 and rampaged through farming communities and army bases near the border, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting around 250 people.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to mediate a cease-fire and the return of the roughly 110 remaining hostages, around a third of whom Israeli authorities believe to be deceased.

The conflict has meanwhile threatened to trigger a regional war, as Israel has traded fire with Iran and its militant allies across the region.