CAIRO, August 13. /TASS/. The Israeli military has appealed to Palestinians living temporarily or permanently in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis to leave their homes as soon as possible and head to humanitarian zones on the coast, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Avihai Edri said.
"In light of the ongoing rocket attacks [on Israeli territory], which [the Palestinian movement] Hamas and other terrorist organizations carry out from the very areas where you live, we warn that the IDF will soon begin active military action against the militants there. For your safety, move immediately to the humanitarian zone," Edri wrote on his X page. He attached a map to his statement, marking areas whose residents would be in danger if they did not leave as soon as possible. Palestinians are urged to head west from Khan Yunis and surrounding areas to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.