Israeli tanks returned to the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Friday, forcing families to evacuate along congested roadways, as Palestinian fighters continued to attack Israeli troops from the ruins, residents and the military said, Reuters reports.
Thousands of people fled eastern Khan Younis in vehicles and on foot, belongings heaped on donkey carts and motorcycle rickshaws as they made their slow escape along congested roads.
With Israel and Lebanon braced for a possible escalation in fighting, leaders from the United States, Egypt and Qatar tried to revive efforts to halt the fighting in Gaza, scheduling a new round of talks for Aug. 15.
In recent weeks Israeli forces which swept into nearly the entire Gaza Strip over more than ten months of war have been returning to the ruins of areas where they said they had defeated Hamas fighters, while warning that they might regroup.
In the latest assault, the military dropped leaflets ordering residents and displaced people sheltering in eastern Khan Younis, Gaza’s main southern city, to evacuate from an area that has already seen repeated waves of fighting.
Families packed into buses and cars, many seeking shelter in Al-Mawasi, a sandy stretch of ground along the coast, though some expressed fear over attacks there even though it is designated as a safe zone by Israeli forces.
On Friday, an Israeli air strike killed six Palestinians in Al-Mawasi, medics said. Another strike on a house nearby killed four people, including a girl and wounded several others, they added.
