IDF issues evacuation orders, strikes Khan Yunis after Hamas rocket barrage

A plume of smoke from an explosion near Khan Yunis.

After Hamas successfully launched approximately 20 rockets from Khan Yunis, the IDF issued that evening a new evacuation order for eastern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, instructing residents and displaced persons to head toward the designated “humanitarian zone.”

Hamas had previously not launched a barrage such as it had on Monday for several months.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, posted the warning for Al-Qarara, Bani Suhaila, the Abasan neighborhoods, the town of Khuza’a, and several other areas in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

The following day, the IDF reported that, in response to the attack, the military had struck overnight the area from which the rockets had been launched.

Among the targets hit were a weapons storage facility, operational centers, as well as other terror structures.

Human shields

Following IDF policies, before the strike, the IDF took preventive measures to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians, enabling civilians to evacuate from the area on time, the military said.

"The Hamas terrorist organization continues to systematically violate international law while using civilian infrastructure and the civilian population as human shields for its terrorist activities against Israel," the IDF added.

UNRWA responded on X, formally known as Twitter, by saying "just weeks after people were forced to return to a devastated Khan Younis, Israeli authorities have issued new evacuation orders for the area. Yet again, families face forced displacement."

They estimated that 250,000 people will have to flee and continued by saying "nowhere is safe in #Gaza."

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.