Thousands fled their homes in a Gaza Strip town on Sunday after Israel warned them to leave before it attacked rocket-launching sites, on the sixth day of an offensive that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 160 people.
Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza kept up rocket salvoes deep into the Jewish state as the worst bout of Israel-Palestinian bloodshed in two years showed no signs of abating, and Western foreign ministers said a ceasefire was an urgent priority.
Israel dropped leaflets into the town of Beit Lahiya near Gaza’s northern border. They read: “Those who fail to comply with the instructions to leave immediately will endanger their lives and the lives of their families. Beware.”
The Israeli military told the residents of three of Beit Lahiya’s 10 neighbourhoods to get out of the town of 70,000 by midday on Sunday. U.N. officials said some 10,000 people had fled south to eight schools run by the world body in Gaza City.
A senior military officer, in a telephone briefing with foreign reporters, said Israel would “strike with might” in the Beit Lahiya area from the late evening hours on Sunday.
He did not say if this would include an expansion of an air and naval offensive into a ground operation in the north of the narrow, densely populated Mediterranean enclave.
“The enemy has built rocket infrastructure in-between the houses (in Beit Lahiya),” the Israeli officer said. “He wants to trap me into an attack and into hurting civilians.”
