GAZA CITY, Palestine

Thousands of Palestinians began to flee their areas in Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday after an Israeli evacuation order.

According to an Anadolu reporter, families carried few belongings as they left their tents and moved on foot toward al-Mawasi, which stretches along Gaza’s coastline from southern Khan Younis to northern Deir al-Balah.

Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on displacing civilians leaving the area on their carts.

A medical source said several people were killed and injured in the attack, without giving an exact figure.

The evacuation order came amid dire humanitarian conditions across Gaza, which officially entered the first stage of famine last week amid Israel’s continued closure of the territory’s border crossings since March 2.

The Israeli army ordered residents of Tel al-Sultan to evacuate immediately, calling the area a “dangerous combat zone.”

The military also warned civilians not to use vehicles and threatened grave consequences for residents remaining in shelters.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday, the Health Ministry said.

The Israeli army has launched a surprise aerial campaign on Gaza since Tuesday, killing more than 700 Palestinians, injuring over 1,200 others, and shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 113,250 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

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.