Funeral of children who were killed at a soccer pitch by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Majdal Shams.

Israeli troops backed by air strikes battled groups of Palestinian fighters around Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, as they continued a week-long operation they said was meant to clear Islamist Hamas militants.

A week after ordering civilians to evacuate the area, tanks pushed into the towns of Al-Karara, Al-Zanna, and Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, where medics said at least 34 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes.

Residents reported fierce fighting as thousands of Palestinians, many displaced multiple times, headed to the overcrowded areas in Al-Mawasi southwest of Khan Younis, and northwards to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The days of fighting in Khan Younis underscored the fierce resistance Israeli forces have encountered almost 10 months after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct 7 that triggered Israel's campaign in Gaza.

Israel blames Hamas for concealing fighters in civilian areas and says its forces do everything possible to limit civilian casualties.

But the head of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini, said the evacuation orders by the Israeli military were compounding Palestinians' suffering.

"Quite often, people have just a few hours to pack whatever they can & start all over again, mostly on foot or on a crowded donkey cart for those who can afford it," he said in a post on the social media platform X.

One air strike on a tented area in Al-Mawasi, a district designated as a humanitarian safe zone where the army has told people to move to, killed five people including a four-month-old girl named Maria Abu Ziada, local media reported.

The Israeli military said it was aware of the report and looking into it.

The military launched the operation in Khan Younis in response to what it said were repeated attacks including rocket fire from armed fighters.

Fighting has also continued in other areas, including Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, in the Tel Al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave and in central Gaza, where the military told people to evacuate and move to Al-Mawasi "immediately for their safety."

CIA'S BURNS MEETS NEGOTIATORS IN ROME

The fighting continued as negotiators from Israel, Egypt and Qatar met CIA Director William Burns in Rome where they discussed what Israel called "clarifications regarding the draft agreement that was conveyed from Israel."

Negotiations on the main issues will continue in coming days, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said.

Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the conflict will stop only once Hamas is defeated.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan said Israel's response to the latest proposal was handed to Washington on Saturday ahead of the expected meeting - the latest effort to reach an agreement after months in which Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the stalemate.

Israel said on Sunday it would strike hard against Hamas ally Hezbollah after accusing the Iranian-backed group of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The attack escalated hostilities, which have been fought in parallel to the Gaza war and have raised fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israel, which has lost around 330 soldiers in combat in Gaza, estimates that fighters account for about a third of the Palestinians killed since it launched its offensive in response to a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October.

About 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.

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At least 14 killed and 180,000 displaced as Israel intensifies offensive in Gaza ‘humanitarian zone’

Nearly 182,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee Khan Younis due to Israeli bombardment since Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Hundreds of people are trapped as the Israeli military has “intensified hostilities” in the southern Gaza region, sparking a “new wave of internal displacement”, the UN agency said, according to AFP.

Palestinian authorities said Israeli attacks killed at least 14 people in Khan Younis since dawn on Saturday.

At least 12 Palestinians were also killed in an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in the Deir Al-Balah area of central Gaza, the local civil defence said.

The Israeli military on Saturday again ordered Palestinians to leave southern Khan Younis, which it had earlier designated as a humanitarian zone, so it could “forcefully operate” against Hamas fighters who were allegedly firing rockets from there.

It was the second evacuation order issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza. Many of these displaced civilians have been uprooted more than once as Israel has expanded its war across the territory.

Khan Younis is part of a 60sqkm “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been ordering Palestinians to escape throughout the ongoing war. The area is blanketed with tent camps that lack basic facilities like sanitation and medical aid, UN and humanitarian groups say.

The Israeli military on Friday claimed to have battled Palestinian fighters and destroyed tunnels in the area.

The fighting, nine months into Israel’s invasion of Gaza, underlines the difficulty the military faces in putting down continued resistance from Hamas.

Israel’s latest war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has also displaced nearly 90 per cent of the territory’s 2.2 million population, according to the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees Unrwa.

The offensive came after Hamas attacked southern Israel last October, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage.

The Israeli military claimed on Saturday that its calls to evacuate were relayed to the displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis via several mediums in order to mitigate danger to civilians.

UN and humanitarian agencies accuse Israel of using disproportionate force, which it denies.

Israel accused Hamas of putting civilians in harm’s way by operating from densely populated neighbourhoods, an allegation the group denies.

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Israel orders clearing of more parts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza

The Israeli army has called on Palestinian civilians in part of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip to leave the area immediately.

"Due to significant terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the State of Israel from the southern areas of Khan Younis, remaining in this area has become dangerous," the military said.

The area to be evacuated is located in a zone previously designated as a humanitarian zone by Israel. The borders of this zone will be changed accordingly, the army statement said.

Those affected were told to leave in the direction of another nearby humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi.

The Israeli army call was issued via text messages, telephone voice messages and leaflets, it said.

Israel's armed forces have been fighting militants from Islamist Hamas movement in Khan Younis for weeks as part of its attempt to eliminate the group. The Hamas forces are said to have regrouped in the city.

The Palestinian population is repeatedly caught in the crossfire during these battles. The frequent evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military often drive thousands of people to flee, some multiple times.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in southern Israel on October 7.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a major ground offensive, with Hamas authorities saying that about 39,000 - mostly civilians - have been killed since the conflict broke out.

Israel is being increasingly criticized internationally in view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

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