Israel expands the Gaza attack and issues fresh evacuation orders

The Israeli forces expanded their attack in Gaza on Sunday, as they controlled more lands and issuing new evacuation orders for residents who recently returned to their homes.

Israeli army He renewed his attack in Gaza Last week, after talks to extend the temporary ceasefire, which came into force in mid -January to a dead end. On Sunday, he said that these operations moved to additional areas in the north and south of the pocket.

Israel said that its forces began operating in Beit Hannon, in northern Gaza, to expand a buffer zone. The army also said it had carried out more air strikes against Hamas and infrastructure targets and that it was allowed to evacuate.

The army also issued separately an evacuation order in the Tal Al -Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafiha, and the residents are required to leave on foot along a specific road and prohibit the movement of vehicles.

The Municipality of Rafah said in a statement that thousands of families had to flee on foot under the bombing During the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The municipality indicated that this left them homeless amid a severe shortage of essential necessities and tents due to the closure of the Israeli government to the crossings to Gaza.

“I hear a lot of shooting and bombing,” Reham Abu Marzouk, 22, said in a phone call on Sunday afternoon as she escaped from her home in his Rafah with nine relatives. “We are going now,” she added, panting and struggling for her breath.

In the midst of the escalation of the fighting and evacuation orders, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Sunday that 39 people were killed and 61 others were injured in the Israeli bombing through the pocket during the past day. The ministry numbers do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

Hamas announced that Israel had killed a senior member of its political office, Salah Al -Bardawil, overnight. The group said that Mr. Al -Bardawil, one of the prominent speakers in the armed group, was killed with his wife in a strike on his tent in Al -Malasi, a area in the southern Gaza that the Israeli army has set as a humanitarian area and to which the residents of the Talanan were directed on Sunday.

In the afternoon on Sunday, the army said that its forces had completely cordoned off the Sultan, and it canceled many fighters and raided a site that he said was used during the past few months as a center for the leadership and control of Hamas.

No claim can be independently verified.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza warned of “the imminent danger that threatens the lives of more than 50,000 people in his Rafah.

“The situation is very difficult.” He said he decided not to evacuate the area on Sunday “until the situation becomes more clear” because “we have no place.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that it had lost his contact with four ambulances, which he said was besieged in his Rafah and were members of a crew wounded by the Israeli shooting. The Israeli army said it was looking into reports, but he did not make any additional comment immediately.

Muhammad Abu Taha, 42, said that his sister SANA and her family were able to return to their home in his Rafah only in the past few weeks. On Sunday dawn, “They were surprised by the Israeli tanks moving towards them,” and said that his sister had told him by phone as she escaped on foot to the city of Khan Yunis, where he was protecting.

Mr. Abu Taha said: “They were only allowed to carry a small bag.”

The Israeli government said that the renewed attack – in addition to preventing the entry of all goods and humanitarian aid to Gaza – aims to Increased pressure on Hamas to release the hostages He is still being held in the pocket and in the destruction of the group’s military capabilities.

The hostages were transferred to Gaza during the Hamas -led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Hamas has so far refused to launch large numbers of hostages unless Israel is permanently ending the war. Israel ended the war on Hamas’s approval to abandon its arms and strength in Gaza.

The resumption of the military campaign in Gaza did not find the same national consensus between the Israelis, as the war did in the wake of the October 2023 attack. Instead, fears about the destinies of the hostages increased, up to 24 of them are still alive, and many Israelis left wondering what could be achieved militarily in the first 15 months of fighting.

Reports previously contributed Mira Novik Abu Bakr Bashirand Bilal Shibt and Iyad abuheweila.