Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from the Bureij refugee camp and its outskirts in the central Gaza Strip following an Israeli evacuation order, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA has reported.

Many evacuees headed to Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat, also in central Gaza, WAFA added. Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said in a statement that in the wake of the launching of rocket shells by “terrorist organisations” from among the residents of the Bureij and Shuhada areas, the Israeli army will “work forcefully against the terrorist elements that are active there,”

Adraee urged residents in parts of Bureij and Shuhada to evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, for their safety.