Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday's Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and the northern city of Jabalia killed at least 17 Palestinians, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment, although in a post on X, its Arab spokesman had previously warned residents of Al-Bureij to evacuate ahead of an imminent attack on militants firing rockets from the area.
During the night, it also said it had killed Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a Hamas fighter who helped lead the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Islamist group's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The order to clear the Al-Bureij camp resulted in a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected.
WAFA says the military blew up apartment blocks in Beit Lahiya and in and around Jabalia, while tanks shelled parts of Gaza City and the Al-Bureij camp.
Israel says its nearly three-month campaign in northern Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The military says evacuation instructions for civilians are intended to protect them from danger.
Palestinian and United Nations officials say there is no safe place in Gaza and that the evacuations are worsening the humanitarian conditions of the population.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, more than 1,500 tents sheltering displaced people across the Gaza Strip have been flooded by heavy rains over the past two days, exposing people to the cold and damaging their belongings.
Hundreds more tents experienced less severe flooding, which continued to prevent displaced people from using them.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya was cleared of people and razed to the ground, fueling speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.
There is no end in sight
According to Palestinian health officials, more than 45,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign in Gaza. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced, and much of the small coastal strip is in ruins.
According to Israeli data, 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli military says it is only targeting militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in densely built-up residential areas. The army claims it has killed 17,000 fighters without providing evidence.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said an Israeli airstrike closed a large hospital in Gaza on Friday. Kamal Adwan Hospital was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, and WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris says this “vital” lifeline for local Palestinians no longer exists.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced approximately 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, many of them multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands of people live in tents on the coast as winter brings frequent downpours and night temperatures drop below 10°C. According to the Ministry of Health, at least six infants and one person died of hypothermia.
American and Arab mediators spent almost a year trying to negotiate a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, but these efforts repeatedly failed.
Hamas demanded a lasting truce, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu vowed to continue fighting until “total victory” over the militants.