Hamas Political Leader Among 26 Dead in Israeli Strikes on Gaza Strip

Israeli strikes across the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 26 Palestinians overnight into Sunday, including a Hamas political leader and several women and children.

- Reuters

DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP: Residents said tanks had advanced into an area of the southern city of Rafah as the military ordered it evacuated.

The military ordered people to leave the already heavily destroyed Tel al-Sultan neighborhood on foot along a single route to Mawasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last week when it launched a surprise wave of airstrikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians.

Late Saturday, Israel's Cabinet approved a proposal to set up a new directorate tasked with advancing the "voluntary departure" of Palestinians in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to depopulate Gaza and rebuild it for others. Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and rights groups have said the plan could amount to expulsion in violation of international law.

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said the new body would be "subject to Israeli and international law" and coordinate "passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries".

In Rafah on Sunday, Palestinian men, women and children could be seen walking along a dirt road and carrying their belongings in their arms, a recurring scene in a war that has forced most of Gaza's population to flee within the territory, often multiple times.