The military ordered people to evacuate on foot along a single route to the Mawasi area, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps with few public services.

Israeli operations intensified southern Gaza with the military ordering evacuations and Hamas reporting the death of a senior figure in an airstrike.

Israeli airstrikes on Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza have killed at least 23 Palestinians and wounded dozens since early Sunday, targeting homes and refugee tents, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.