Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza have ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to leave the town, citing Palestinian rocket fire from the area, Reuters reports, citing residents.

The instruction to leave has caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents said.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes across the enclave killed at least 23 people yesterday. One of those strikes killed seven people and wounded others at Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said in a statement.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen the humanitarian conditions of the population.

Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fuelling speculation Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had lost communication with people still trapped in the town, and it was unable to send teams into the area because of the raid.