DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (NEWSnet/AP) — Israel’s military renewed warnings Monday for Palestinians not to return to northern Gaza.
The statement comes a day after witnesses and medical officials said Israeli troops opened fire and killed five people among throngs of displaced residents trying to return to their homes.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from the north after Israel’s forces launched an offensive there soon after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Many Palestinians have wanted to go back, saying they are weary of conditions of life in displacement. For months, families have been crammed into tent camps, schools-turned-shelters and homes of relatives throughout the south.
Israel, which has reduced the number of its troops in Gaza, has rejected calls to allow Palestinians back into the north, saying Hamas militants continue to operate there.
The military says it has relaxed militants' control over the north, but continues to conduct airstrikes and raids.
Israel military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X that Palestinians should stay in southern Gaza, because the north is a “dangerous combat zone.”
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