Israeli troops backed by air strikes battled Hamas around Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

A week after the Israeli military ordered civilians to evacuate the area, tanks pushed into the towns of Al-Karara, Al-Zanna, and Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, where medics said at least 34 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes.

Residents reported fierce fighting as thousands of Palestinians, many displaced multiple times, headed to the overcrowded areas in Al-Mawasi southwest of Khan Younis, and northwards to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The head of the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini, said the evacuation orders by the Israeli military were compounding Palestinians' suffering.

"Quite often, people have just a few hours to pack whatever they can & start all over again, mostly on foot or on a crowded donkey cart for those who can afford it," he said in a post on the social media platform X.

One air strike on a tented area in Al-Mawasi, a district designated as a humanitarian safe zone where the Israeli army has told people to move to, killed five people including a four-month-old girl named Maria Abu Ziada, local media reported.

Fighting has also continued in other areas, including Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, in the Tel Al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave and in central Gaza, where the Israeli military told people to evacuate and move to Al-Mawasi "immediately for their safety."