Israel widens offensive, calls for more evacuations in southern Gaza

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes heavily bombarded an area around Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday as the military ordered mass evacuations from the town in the face of a widening ground offensive.

Phone and internet networks across Gaza collapsed again Monday evening, the Palestinian telecom provider PalTel reported. The network has broken down multiple times during the war.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attack into Israel triggered the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades.

Already under mounting pressure from its top ally, the United States, Israel appears to be racing to strike a death blow against Hamas terrorists before any new cease-fire.

Residents said Monday they heard airstrikes and explosions in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to relocate farther south toward the border with Egypt.

The military warned civilians Monday to avoid the main north-south highway between Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah, saying the road had become a “battlefield.” That indicated Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to cut central Gaza off from the south.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the army is pursuing Hamas terrorists with “maximum force” in the north and south while trying to minimize harm to civilians.

He pointed to a map that divides southern Gaza into dozens of blocks in order to give “precise instructions” to residents on where to evacuate.

Hamas targets struck overnight

The military said aircraft struck some 200 Hamas targets overnight, with ground troops operating “in parallel,” without elaborating.

It said troops in northern Gaza uncovered a terrorist hideout in a school after coming under attack. Inside, they found two tunnel shafts, one of which had been booby-trapped, as well as explosives and weapons, the military said.

Israel says it targets Hamas operatives, not civilians, and blames civilian casualties on the terrorists, accusing them of operating in residential neighborhoods.

In addition to leaflets dropped over Gaza, the military has used phone calls and radio and TV broadcasts to urge people to leave specific areas.

Israel says it has killed thousands of terrorists. Israel says at least 81 of its soldiers have been killed.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory since Oct. 7 has surpassed 15,890 people. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled south. Now around 2 million people — most of the territory’s population of 2.3 million — are crowded into the 90 square miles that make up south and central Gaza, where Israel’s retaliatory ground offensive is expanding. Their only escape is to other parts of that area, as both Israel and neighboring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.

U.S. pressure

The U.S. is pressing Israel to avoid more mass displacements and civilian deaths, a message underscored by Vice President Kamala Harris during a weekend visit to the region. She also said the U.S. would not allow the forced relocation of Palestinians out of Gaza or the West Bank, or the redrawing of Gaza’s borders.

But it’s unclear how far the Biden administration is willing or able to go in pressing Israel to rein in the offensive, even as the White House faces growing pressure from its allies in Congress.

The U.S. has pledged unwavering support to Israel since the Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attack, which killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including rushing munitions and other aid to Israel.

Israel has rejected U.S. suggestions that control over postwar Gaza be handed over to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority as part of a renewed effort to resolve the overall conflict by establishing a Palestinian state.

Hopes for another temporary truce faded after Israel called its negotiators home over the weekend. Hamas said talks on releasing any more of the scores of hostages seized by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7 must be tied to a permanent cease-fire.

The earlier truce facilitated the release of 105 of the roughly 240 Israeli and foreign hostages taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Most of those released by both sides were women and children.

Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo.