The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip on Monday, designating it as a humanitarian zone, stating that it plans to conduct an operation against Hamas militants there. This order led to a new exodus of Palestinians, many of whom had only recently fled there in the past weeks.

Thousands of Palestinians walked, many carrying backpacks and accompanied by children, along dirt paths under the scorching sun. Dilapidated cars, loaded with their belongings, passed over buildings flattened by previous strikes. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during the Israeli aerial and ground campaign.

Khaloud Al-Dadas, holding her children, said: “We don’t know where we are going.” “This is the seventh or eighth time we have been forced to evacuate. While we were sleeping in our homes, they started shooting at us and bombarding us from all directions.” Moments later, she collapsed from exhaustion.

Reflecting the shrinking space available to Palestinians, the new evacuation order reduces the roughly 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) of the 60-square-kilometer (23 square miles) "humanitarian zone" that Israel has urged Palestinians to flee to in order to escape its attacks.

Most of the area covered by the new order includes parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, which has been filled with people since early May as they fled from Israeli forces attacking Rafah in the south. United Nations officials said the number of people in the evacuation area was not immediately known.

On Monday, several Israeli airstrikes targeted the vicinity of Khan Younis, resulting in the deaths of at least 70 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital. A video from the Associated Press showed a plume of smoke rising above the city after one explosion. Another strike hit outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where many people were living in tents on the street, killing one person and injuring three others.

The Israeli army stated that it plans to conduct operations against Hamas militants who have fortified themselves in the humanitarian zone and used it to launch rockets toward Israel.

Israel first declared the area early in the war, positioning its forces in the Mosai area, which is largely a rural expanse of sand dunes along the Mediterranean coast. At that time, in November, the army said it would only strike there with precise hits on individual Hamas leaders, stating it was "not a safe area, but is safer than anywhere else" in Gaza. It expanded the area in May to accommodate people fleeing from Rafah, where over half of Gaza's population was crowded at the time.

Earlier this month, Israel estimated that at least 1.8 million Palestinians were in the expanded area - the majority of Gaza's pre-war population of 2.3 million.

Despite its name, the area has little humanitarian aid. The United Nations and humanitarian groups say that the tent camps filling the beaches, vacant lands, and streets lack sanitary and medical facilities, and access to aid is limited. Families live amidst mountains of garbage and contaminated streams of sewage water.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that the toll from the ongoing Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza has surpassed 39,000 Palestinian deaths and 89,800 injuries. The ministry's tally does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

The war began with an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the capture of about 250 hostages. About 120 hostages remain, and it is believed that around a third of them have died, according to Israeli authorities.

Delicate negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages are ongoing, with American and Israeli officials expressing hope that an agreement is closer than ever. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that a negotiating team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday. Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are urging Israel and Hamas toward a phased ceasefire agreement that would halt the fighting and free the hostages.

Netanyahu left for a long-awaited trip to the United States on Monday to meet with President Joe Biden, who said on Sunday that he would not seek another term, and to address Congress. Netanyahu stated that regardless of who becomes the next American president, “our enemies must know that Israel and the United States stand together tomorrow and forever.” He said he would thank Biden for more than 40 years of friendship while pushing for more support on specific issues.

The Israeli army stated that it continues its operations in central and southern Gaza. At least 38 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital officials and body counts reported by an Associated Press journalist. One person was killed and three others injured in an airstrike outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where many people took refuge outside the hospital.

The Israeli army announced the death of two additional Israeli hostages, stating that it believes that Yagiv Bushitab (35) and Alex Dansig (76), who were kidnapped on October 7, are no longer alive based on intelligence information. Both were seen alive in Gaza by other released hostages. Dansig, a Holocaust educator, gave historical lectures to hostages to pass the time, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas's military and governance capabilities and ensure the return of the remaining hostages. Families of hostages and thousands of other Israelis have organized weekly demonstrations urging the prime minister to reach a ceasefire agreement that would bring their loved ones home.

The Israeli police also reported on Monday that a Canadian citizen was killed after threatening Israeli security forces with a knife near the Gaza border. The Israeli army stated that the man drove to the entrance of an Israeli town near the border, left his car, and approached the security forces with a knife in hand. The forces opened fire, killing the man. No other injuries were reported.

The attack occurred at the entrance of the Israeli town of Nativ HaAsara, located 300 meters north of the border. On October 7, Nativ HaAsara was attacked, and 20 residents were killed after militants crossed over the concrete border wall using paragliders, according to Israeli military officials.

Israel has witnessed a wave of stabbing attacks across the country during the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the United Nations accused Israel of targeting a UN humanitarian convoy in central Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main UN agency supporting Palestinians in Gaza, said that Israel fired on the convoy on Sunday near an Israeli military checkpoint, piercing five bullets through the clearly marked UN armored vehicle.

Lazzarini stated that the movement of the convoy was coordinated with Israeli forces. No one was injured, but Lazzarini condemned the army for targeting humanitarian workers. The Israeli army did not immediately comment.