Smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. AP
Deir al-Balah is the only major city in Gaza that had not suffered widespread devastation in the 21 months since Israel launched its genocidal war on the strip.
The territorial seizures are a central obstacle in the stalled ceasefire talks.
Tens of thousands of people have sought refuge in Deir al-Balah during repeated waves of mass displacement in Gaza induced by continuously escalating Israeli attacks.
Associated Press reporters heard explosions and saw smoke rising from parts of the city that were ordered evacuated on Sunday. The Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said it was the first time ground troops had operated in the area.
A man living in the evacuation zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said Israel dropped pamphlets at dawn ordering people to evacuate. Two hours later, tanks rolled into the area.
He said his 62-year-old father, who had spent the night elsewhere, fled from house to house as Israeli forces moved in and saw them flattening structures with bulldozers and tanks. Both men managed to leave the evacuation zone.
Israel has taken over large areas of Gaza and split the territory with corridors stretching from the border to the sea.
In response to the Deir al-Balah incursion, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum warned in its statement that “the people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages — both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake."
Rare condemnation from UN food agency
The latest incursion came as the United Nations World Food Program issued a rare condemnation of Israel, accusing its forces of firing on a crowd of starving Palestinians gathered around a food convoy over the weekend.
The WFP said the crowd surrounding its convoy in northern Gaza on Sunday “came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire.” It said “countless lives” were lost. A photographer working with The Associated Press counted 51 bodies at two hospitals.
Gaza's Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink into famine.
It said at least 80 people were killed.
Hundreds of starving people have been killed while seeking food in recent weeks, both from UN convoys and separate aid sites run by an Israeli-backed group that has been mired in controversy.
The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli war has climbed to more than 59,000, mostly women and children.
Strikes across Gaza kill 18
Gaza health officials said at least 18 people, including three women and five children, were killed in Israeli strikes overnight and into Monday.
At least three people were killed when crowds of starving Palestinians waiting for aid trucks were shot at in the area of Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, according to two hospitals that received the bodies.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, meanwhile, said Israeli forces detained Dr. Marwan al-Hams, acting director of the strip’s field hospitals and the ministry’s spokesman. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Israel again strikes rebel-held port in Yemen
The fighting in Gaza has triggered conflicts elsewhere in region, including between Israel and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have fired missiles and drones at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.
The Israeli occupation army said it struck the Hodeidah port in Yemen early Monday. Israel has struck the port before, including two weeks ago, accusing the Houthis of using it to import arms from Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the targets included areas of the port that Israel had destroyed in previous strikes.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: