The Israeli army ordered further evacuation operations in southern Gaza early on Sunday morning after a deadly airstrike on a school turned shelter in the north that resulted in the deaths of at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Israel stated that it targeted a command center for militants, resulting in the deaths of 19 fighters.

Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its forces returned to heavily destroyed areas where they previously fought Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced due to the 10-month-long war, often multiple times.

Hundreds of thousands crowded into squalid tent camps with little public services or took refuge in schools like the one that was hit on Saturday, as Palestinians say there is no safe place.

The latest evacuation orders apply to areas in Khan Younis, including part of a humanitarian zone declared by Israel, from which the army said rockets were fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.

Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city, has suffered widespread destruction during an aerial and ground assault earlier this year. Tens of thousands fled again last week after a prior evacuation order.

Hundreds of families carrying their belongings in their arms left their homes and shelters early on Sunday, in search of elusive refuge.

Amaal Abu Yahya, a mother of three, who returned to Khan Younis in June to shelter in her heavily damaged home, said: "We don’t know where to go." The 42-year-old widow, whose husband was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a neighbor's house in March, said: "This is my fourth displacement."

She mentioned that they went to the Mawasi, a sprawling tent camp along the coast, but they could not find anywhere.

Ramadan Issa, a father of five in his fifties, fled Khan Younis with 17 extended family members, joining hundreds of people walking toward central Gaza early on Sunday.

He said, referring to Israel: "Every time we settle in one place and build tents for women and children, the occupation comes and bombs the area. This situation is unbearable."

The Gaza Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll from the ten-month war is nearing 40,000, without specifying the number of fighters. Relief groups are struggling to address the staggering humanitarian crisis in the region, while international experts have warned of famine.

The war began when militants led by Hamas breached Israel's defenses on October 7 and spread into agricultural communities and military bases near the border, resulting in the deaths of about 1,200 people—most of them civilians—and the kidnapping of around 250.

For months, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been trying to mediate a ceasefire and secure the release of nearly 110 remaining hostages, nearly a third of whom are believed to be Israeli fatalities. Meanwhile, the conflict has threatened to ignite a regional war, with Israel exchanging fire with Iran and its hardline allies across the region.

The strike on Saturday hit a mosque inside a school in Gaza City where thousands of people were sheltering. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 80 people were killed and around 50 were injured. The Israeli military denied the death toll, asserting it killed 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives in a precise strike, releasing what it said were their names and photos.

Hamas and Palestinian activists denied the army's claims, stating that two of the 19 were killed in previous strikes and that the others are known to be civilians or opposed to Hamas.

Israeli forces have besieged Gaza City and much of the north, largely isolating it from the world since late last year, and accounts from either side could not be independently verified.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission states that Israel has carried out "systematic attacks on schools," which had served as shelters since the war began, with at least 21 schools bombed since July 4, resulting in hundreds of deaths, including women and children.

European leaders condemned the strike, while the United States said it is concerned about reports of civilian casualties. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking to reporters traveling with her in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, said: "Once again, too many civilians have been killed."

She added: "We need a hostage deal, and we need a ceasefire. The deal must be done, and it must be done now."