The central city is one of the few parts of Gaza so far spared a major ground operation during the Israel-Hamas war.

The area is packed with Palestinians who left their homes during 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order on Sunday. Israeli tanks pushed into the southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah on Monday,

Israel warned it would move for the first time into a town in the heart of the Gaza Strip that it had earlier skirted for fear of harming hostages, as it accused Hamas of stalling at US-brokered ceasefire talks and the war’s toll on Palestinian civilians spiraled.

The Israeli military has issued new evacuation warnings for central Gaza, an area where ground operations have been rare.