Thousands of Palestinians fled their homes and displacement camps as Israeli forces carried out a series of deadly strikes on southern Gaza.

Before the assault, Tel Aviv issued an evacuation order for the region where nearly 250,000 Palestinians would be affected, according to a U.N. agency.

Witnesses reported intense bombing and shelling around Khan Younis, southern Gaza's main city, from which Israeli troops withdrew in early April after a brutal monthslong campaign.

A hospital source in the city said shelling killed eight people and wounded more than 30 others.

The bombardment came after a rocket barrage at southern Israel on Monday morning claimed by the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas.

This was followed by an order to evacuate most areas east of Khan Younis and in Rafah along the borders with Israel and Egypt.

An AFP photographer saw Palestinians leave eastern Khan Younis on foot, in cars and on horse or donkey carts, carrying their belongings with them.

Witnesses said some displaced people with nowhere to go were sleeping on the streets.

Ahmad Najjar, a resident of the town of Bani Suhaila, said the Israeli evacuation order had caused "a large displacement of residents" and spurred "fear and extreme anxiety."

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that "around 250,000 people have been impacted by these orders," said UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge.

"We expect that almost all of these people will move from this area," she said.

Six consecutive days of intense operations followed a similar evacuation order issued last week for the Gaza City district of Shujaiya.

An AFP correspondent reported artillery shelling in the northern area Tuesday, and witnesses said gun battles raged on.

The Israeli military said its forces were operating in Shujaiya, central Gaza and Rafah, where aircraft carried out strikes and troops ambushed an armed group in a car and killed them.

Strikes a 'daily routine'

Over the past day, the Israeli air force struck approximately 30 targets across Gaza, said the military.

In Shujaiya, Palestinian resistance members were eliminated and dozens of infrastructure sites above and below ground were dismantled, including tunnel shafts, it added.

In central Gaza, witnesses said strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp where the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least one dead, a child.

Mohamed al-Jalees, displaced from Shujaiya to Nuseirat, helped clear the rubble and search for survivors.

"A missile struck our neighbours' house," he told AFP. "We rushed to check on them, and some were rescued alive (but) we found a martyred child."

"I have been displaced here for nine months ... This is our daily routine."

Other parts of the Gaza Strip were reeling from continued fighting nearly nine months into Israel's genocidal war, which was sparked by the Oct. 7 incursion and has led to a dire humanitarian crisis.

Months of on-and-off talks toward a truce and hostage release deal have made little progress, even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared more than a week ago that the "intense phase" of the war was winding down.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that "we've heard the Israelis talk about a significant downshift in their operations in Gaza."

"It remains to be seen."

The latest order to leave parts of southern Gaza follows an evacuation of Rafah nearly two months ago which had signalled the start of a long-feared Israeli offensive that has uprooted many Palestinians and blocked a key aid route.