KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military has ordered another mass evacuation in large areas around Khan Younis in southern Gaza, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian rocket fire. Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis suffered widespread destruction during air and ground operations earlier this year.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other militants since the start of the 10-month-old war.

Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis with Israeli restrictions on aid and ongoing fighting limiting access to crucial medical, food and other supplies. The Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll in the territory is nearing 40,000.

Regional tensions have soared since Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed July 31 in Iran by a presumed Israeli strike. Retaliation has been expected. French President Emmanuel Macron urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call to do everything in his power to avoid a new military escalation that he said would do lasting damage to regional stability.

World leaders have been pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza, and United States President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday about their hopes for a deal calming tensions in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

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Netanyahu’s Office Says He Met With West Bank Settlers Over Their Concerns About International Sanctions

JERUSALEM — The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he met with West Bank settler leaders to address their concerns about international sanctions against them.

From the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Netanyahu on Thursday spoke with the heads of various Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and said he takes “very seriously” the financial and travel sanctions against those accused of attacks on Palestinians.

“We are working to stop it,” Netanyahu said of the high-level sanctions imposed earlier this year on violent settlers and settler organizations by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada.

“This is a matter for the entire State of Israel and not just the settlements council,” he added.

Netanyahu’s office said that the Jewish settlers expressed “strong support” for the prime minister and gratitude for “his firm stand in the face of domestic and foreign pressures.”

Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has occupied it ever since. Some 500,000 Israelis, who consider the land their biblical birthright, have settled in the territory. The international community largely considers their presence illegal. But under Netanyahu’s government coalition, settlement expansion has been turbocharged.

Israeli Strikes on 2 Gaza Schools Serving as Shelters Kill at Least a Dozen People, Palestinian Agency Says

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian emergency response agency says Israeli airstrikes on two schools functioning as shelters in Gaza City have killed at least a dozen people, the latest in a string of attacks on Gaza schools that Israel says provide cover to Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas “command and control centers” hidden within the Zahraa and Abdelfattah Hamouda school compounds in eastern Gaza City. It said it had taken “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians,” such as by precision munitions, surveillance and intelligence, but did not elaborate on how it had done so.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, which sent crews to recover bodies from the scene, said that seven people were killed in Zahraa school and five in Abdelfattah Hamouda. It was not clear if any of those killed were militants.

The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is now nearing 40,000 according to the the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

A recent assessment by the United Nations found that nearly 85% of schools in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war.

Israeli Military Orders Another Mass Evacuation in Southern Gaza

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has ordered another mass evacuation in southern Gaza, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian rocket fire.

The orders announced Thursday cover large areas in and around Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, which suffered widespread destruction during air and ground operations earlier this year.

Associated Press video captured loud blasts and smoke rising over the city on Thursday.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other militants since the start of the 10-month-old war. The military ordered an evacuation of much of Khan Younis in early July. The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced in the war, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps.

Others have remained in their homes despite being ordered to leave, saying nowhere in the isolated coastal territory feels safe.

Israel Will ‘No Longer Facilitate Norwegian Diplomats to Work in Palestine,’ Norway’s Foreign Minister Says

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Thursday that the Scandinavian government was told that Israel “will no longer facilitate Norwegian diplomats to work in Palestine.”

“This is an extreme act that primarily affects our ability to help the Palestinian population,” Barth Eide said, adding that it showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “actively opposes the work for a two-state solution.”

He said at a news conference that it meant that Norway can no longer work from its representations in the occupied territories. Its representation in the West Bank town of Al Ram was opened in 1995.

Thursday’s decision will have consequences for Norway’s relationship with the Israeli government and they are considering the next steps, he said.

In May, Norway — together with Spain and Ireland — announced they would recognize a Palestinian state.

Rights Group Says Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 7 People Sheltering in a Gaza City Home

JERUSALEM — Human Rights Watch says Israeli soldiers killed at least seven people and severely wounded two, including a 5-year-old, when they attacked a home in Gaza City where a Palestinian family was sheltering in December.

The New York-based rights group released a report Thursday based on interviews with two members of the al-Khalidi family who witnessed the attack, and video footage released by the Israeli military that placed forces in the vicinity of the home at the time.

The family members said there were no militants or weapons inside the house, and that the family had no connection to any armed group. They said the troops barged in without warning, hurling grenades and opening fire.

A pregnant woman was among those killed, and the 5-year-old is being treated for severe injuries in Qatar.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, and Human Rights Watch said the army had not responded to detailed questions sent in July.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians as it seeks to destroy Hamas following the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which triggered the ongoing war. But Israel’s relentless aerial bombardment and ground operations have wiped out entire Palestinian families. The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, something Israel has adamantly denied.

Saudi Arabia Condemns the Killing of Haniyeh in Iran as a ‘Flagrant Violation’ of International Law

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has condemned the targeted killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran as a “flagrant violation” of international law.

The statement issued early Thursday by Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed ElKhereiji came after the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the largest bloc of Muslim countries, issued a similar statement following a high-level meeting the day before.

Iran has vowed to avenge the July 31 explosion that killed Ismail Haniyeh, which was widely blamed on Israel, raising fears of a regional war. Israel has not said whether it was involved.

ElKhereiji said the killing of Haniyeh was a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and constitutes a threat to regional peace and security.”

The statement did not directly blame Israel but referred to Israeli attacks against Palestinians “inside and outside the Palestinian territories.”