ANKARA 

The Israeli army issued evacuation orders on Tuesday for Palestinians in a city in the northern Gaza Strip in a move widely seen as a form of collective punishment, following the firing of a rocket from the enclave.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered the immediate evacuation of Beit Hanoun before the army carries out strikes in the area.

Adraee said earlier that the army's air defense intercepted a rocket launched from northern Gaza toward Sderot.

Israeli Army Radio said air raid sirens were activated in the Sderot and settlements adjacent to Gaza following the rocket launch.

The evacuation order policy is part of Israeli army tactics widely used in the course of its genocidal war on Gaza.

The army also issued evacuation orders Monday to Palestinians in several areas in Rafah, the southernmost area of Gaza, worsening the dire conditions of residents under ongoing Israeli deadly attacks.

Israel began a surprise aerial campaign on Gaza on March 18 and has killed since more than 1,000 victims and injured over 2,000, shattering a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 50,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November 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.