Israeli Strikes Kill 23 in Gaza, Military Expands Evacuation Orders

A man searches for salvageable items amid the rubble of a house hit by Israeli bombardment at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025. (AFP)
A man searches for salvageable items amid the rubble of a house hit by Israeli bombardment at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 23 in Gaza, Military Expands Evacuation Orders

A man searches for salvageable items amid the rubble of a house hit by Israeli bombardment at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025. (AFP)
A man searches for salvageable items amid the rubble of a house hit by Israeli bombardment at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, as the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across the enclave.

The Israeli military resumed its campaign against Hamas in Gaza a week ago, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Since then, nearly 700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, Palestinian health officials say.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population has already been displaced by the fighting multiple times during nearly 18 months of war and is facing worsening shortages of food and water after Israel suspended aid deliveries earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents in all northern border towns to evacuate, saying Palestinian rockets had been fired at Israel from the area.

The affected towns include Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Shejaia in Gaza City. Orders were also issued for areas in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

"For your safety, you must move immediately south to known shelters," the military said in its orders to residents in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's historic refugee camps.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the renewed offensive aimed to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining 59 hostages it is holding in Gaza. About 24 of them are believed to be still alive.

Hamas, which accuses Israel of abandoning the January 19 ceasefire deal, said it was cooperating with a new effort, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, to restore calm and conclude the three-phase ceasefire agreement.

According to some Hamas sources, there has been no breakthrough.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.



Egypt, Jordan and Others Call for a Halt to Israeli-Iranian Conflict 

A projectile crosses the sky above Jerusalem, 17 June 2025. (EPA)
A projectile crosses the sky above Jerusalem, 17 June 2025. (EPA)
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Egypt, Jordan and Others Call for a Halt to Israeli-Iranian Conflict 

A projectile crosses the sky above Jerusalem, 17 June 2025. (EPA)
A projectile crosses the sky above Jerusalem, 17 June 2025. (EPA)

Twenty countries denounced in a joint statement the escalating tensions in the Middle East caused by what they term Israel’s aggression against Iran and called for diplomacy and dialogue to restore stability in the region.

“There’s an imperative need to halt Israeli hostilities against Iran, which come during a time of increasing tension in the Middle East, and to work towards de-escalation, to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire and restoration of calm,” read the statement.

Foreign ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Chad, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, and Mauritania rejected finding resolution through military campaigns. Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, Sudan, Türkiye, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates also condemned the escalation.

They also highlighted the importance of clearing the region of nuclear and mass destruction weapons and called for refraining from targeting nuclear facilities and protecting maritime navigation in international waters.