CAIRO/GAZA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Health officials reported that at least 17 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli strike on the Gaza town of Zawayda on Saturday. Most of the victims were from the same family, including eight children and four women, according to officials in the Hamas-administered area. Israel has issued new evacuation orders in response to nearby Hamas rocket fire and stated that it is investigating the reports of the strike.
"They were asleep in their beds—kids and babies—when three missiles struck their home," said Abu Ahmed Hassan, a neighbor. He added that the house belonged to a well-known merchant and emphasized, "There are no military activities here at all."
On Saturday, Israel's military spokesperson in Arabic posted evacuation instructions on X for residents of parts of central Gaza, including the Maghazi district near Zawayda, advising them to move to a designated humanitarian zone.
He claimed that militants were launching rockets from these locations and that the military was preparing to take action against them.
Reuters was unable to immediately confirm whether any areas in Zawayda were included in the evacuation orders or if residents there received the military's instructions. Residents reported that thousands were fleeing Maghazi.
On Friday, the military designated two areas in the southern city of Khan Younis, within a zone Israel had marked as humanitarian, as dangerous and ordered evacuations, citing regular rocket fire from those areas by militants.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that Friday’s evacuation orders, which extended beyond the humanitarian zones, impacted approximately 170,000 displaced individuals.
OCHA's report noted, "This is one of the largest evacuation orders affecting the area to date, reducing the size of the so-called 'humanitarian zone' to about 41 square kilometers, or 11 percent of the total area of the Gaza Strip."
In the central region of the enclave, residents reported that Israeli tanks advanced further into the eastern part of Deir Al-Balah on Saturday, an area previously untouched by their operations. This region is now sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
The Israeli military stated that since Friday, its forces had killed dozens of militants, including some who had fired rockets from central and southern Gaza. The ongoing Israeli offensive, now in its tenth month, has displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents and devastated much of the enclave.
**Ceasefire Talks Paused**
Ceasefire negotiations in Doha, mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, were paused on Friday. Negotiators are set to reconvene next week in hopes of reaching an agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas and to secure the release of remaining hostages. U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized that no party should undermine efforts to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal, although he acknowledged that negotiations are still ongoing. In response, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed reports of an imminent agreement as "deceptive claims."
The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and approximately 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. In response, Israel’s military campaign has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel has reported the loss of 330 soldiers in Gaza and claims that at least a third of the Palestinian casualties are militants.
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