Israel’s mass evacuation orders for areas of the Gaza Strip are “no longer a reliable indicator” that an Israeli ground operation is imminent, Al Jazeera reports according to monitors.

Addressing the most recent orders for people to flee Beit Hanoon city in the north of Gaza, US-based think tanks the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and Critical Threats Project (CTP) said Israeli forces had already issued evacuation orders for the area on August 7.

But Israeli ground forces did not advance on Beit Hanoon despite the earlier order for people to leave, and they have “not conducted clearing operations in all of the recent evacuation zones”, according to the latest ISW-CTP joint report.

The ISW-CTP also said that Palestinian fighters launched rockets and mortar shells targeting Israeli forces deployed on the Netzarim and Philadelpi corridors on Friday, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades snipers targeted Israeli forces to the east of Khan Younis, and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement used a “barrel bomb” against an Israeli armoured personnel carrier in Rafah city.