Israel orders further evacuations in Gaza after militants fire rockets

The Israeli military has again ordered the evacuation of several residential areas in the northwest of the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants are said to have fired rockets at the nearby Israeli city of Ashkelon.

The orders issued on Monday came after a rocket attack in Ashkelon the previous day set off air raid sirens. The military said it intercepted one projectile and another fell into the sea.

Israel ordered the evacuation of the entire northern Gaza Strip, including the territory's largest city, in the first weeks of the war, which was sparked by the Hamas attack on October 7.

Most residents followed orders and moved south, but up to 300,000 remained in the north, where Israel's air and ground operations have caused widespread destruction. The north has been surrounded by Israeli forces since October and largely isolated.

About 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced, often multiple times, in the 11-month war. Hundreds of thousands of people are crowded into tent camps along the coast, where there are few or no public services.