Israeli army raids parts of northern Gaza, forces residents to flee

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army on Tuesday carried out a sudden incursion into parts of the northern Gaza Strip, forcing Palestinians to flee.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army carried out a sudden incursion into areas in eastern Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, and into northern Beit Lahia town amid heavy artillery shelling and firing.

The Israeli forces surrounded schools that were sheltering displaced Palestinians in Beit Hanoun, and detained all men inside after forcing them to strip to their underwear clothes.

The women and children were ordered to leave the shelters, the eyewitnesses added.

They also said the Israeli army is seeking to empty Beit Hanoun again, after Palestinians had returned to the border town following the Israeli army's withdrawal.

Meanwhile, local sources told Anadolu that Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on Deir al-Balah city and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, leaving casualties among Palestinians.

In the southern Gaza Strip, at least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, western Rafah city, according to medical sources.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 33,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling ordering Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara