Israel says ground forces operating across Gaza Strip

The Israeli military said its ground forces were operating against Hamas across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, its clearest indication yet that a planned ground offensive in the enclave's heavily crowded south had begun as Israeli bombing killed and wounded dozens of Palestinians.

Palestinian militant group Hamas said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops about 2 kilometers from the southern city of Khan Younis. Residents, many of whom had moved there to flee earlier attacks in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, said they could hear tank fire and feared a new Israeli ground offensive was building.

The Israeli military earlier ordered people to evacuate some areas in and near the city, but made no announcement of any new southern ground assault. It posted a map showing shelters located west of Khan Younis and toward Rafah in the south on the border with Egypt.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) continues to extend its ground operation against Hamas centers in all of the Gaza Strip," spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv.

Gaza residents said earlier on Sunday they feared an Israeli ground offensive on the southern areas was imminent. Tanks had cut off the road between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, effectively dividing the Gaza Strip into three.

Many residents started packing but said that areas they had been told to go to were themselves coming under attack.

Later on Sunday, a Gazan health ministry official said seven people were killed in an air strike on a house in Rafah. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Cover: An Israeli military tank rolls near the border with the Gaza Strip, December 3, 2023. /CFP)