In a latest attempt of brutality, about 70 Palestinian were martyred and several others were injured as Israel sent tanks back into the greater Khan Younis area.
The Palestinians were martyred by tanks in the town of Bani Suhaila and other towns in the eastern side of Khan Younis.
The area was also bombarded from the air, local media said.
Residents of the densely built-up area of southern Gaza said the tanks advanced for more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) into Bani Suhaila, forcing residents to flee under fire.
“It is like doomsday,” one resident, who only identified himself as Abu Khaled, told Reuters via chat app. “People are fleeing under fire, many are dead and wounded on the roads.”
The Gaza health ministry said that the dead included several women and children.
“At least 200 were injured in the attack,” it added.
The Israeli military said in a statement evacuation orders to the population in eastern Khan Younis resulted from intelligence information indicating militants were firing rockets from those areas and Hamas was attempting to regroup.
“Since this morning, the IAF and IDF artillery forces have struck more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Younis, including in the area from which a projectile was launched toward Nirim in southern Israel earlier today,” the military said.
About 400,000 people were living in the aforementioned areas and dozens of families had begun to leave their houses, Palestinian official said.
“They were not given time to get out of harm’s way before the Israeli strikes began,” the official said. Some families fled on donkey carts, others on foot, carrying mattresses and other belongings.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two of its clinics located in eastern Khan Younis had been knocked out of operation because of the new offensive.
