The Israeli army has called for some areas of the southern Gaza Strip to be evacuated, claiming that Palestinian fighters were launching rockets from there, AFP reports.

It is the first such call in weeks relating to the south of the embattled Palestinian territory after the military turned its attention to the north in October.

“Terrorist organisations are once again firing rockets towards the State of Israel from your area,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post in Arabic on X, addressing residents of the Khan Younis area.

“For your safety, you must evacuate the area immediately and move to the humanitarian zone,” he said, sharing a map of the area in question.