ANKARA

The Israeli army ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate several areas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as the military launched a surprise aerial bombing campaign on the enclave.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said Palestinians must leave the towns of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and Khuza’a and Abasan in the south, calling these areas “dangerous combat zones.”

“For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to known shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis,” he said on his X account.

Palestinian authorities in Gaza said that at least 322 people were killed and missing and hundreds injured in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza early Tuesday, despite a ceasefire agreement, which took hold in the enclave on Jan. 19.

More than 48,500 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.