Jerusalem (CNN) — At least 19 people have been killed in an airstrike on a school complex that was housing displaced people near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that Israel targeted “the gate of a school housing displaced people in the town of Abasan, east of the city of Khan Younis,” calling it “a heinous massacre against displaced citizens.”
A further 53 people were injured, and the death toll is expected to increase as casualties are still being transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the ministry.
This comes days after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued instructions for hundreds of thousands of people in Khan Younis in the south, Shujaya in central Gaza and the several neighborhoods of Gaza City to leave.
The effect has been to increase the total number of displaced people in Gaza, from 1.7 million in May to an estimated 1.9 million now, according to the UN. Approximately nine out of 10 people in Gaza are now estimated to be internally displaced, many of them multiple times.
The IDF has said that evacuation orders are necessary so that civilians don’t get caught up in its renewed operations in areas where Hamas is seeking to re-establish a presence. The IDF insists it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas has said the evacuations threaten to return negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal to “point zero.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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