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The deportees were among hundreds of employees, Filipino and foreign, rounded up by an anti-crime government task force in a raid on March 14
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Israeli troops battle Hamas in south Gaza; UN warns of 'more hellish scenario' for civilians
Senior Israeli military officials admitted that around two civilians have been killed for every dead Hamas fighter in the Gaza Strip
A Palestinian child cries next to his mother after they were rushed into Nasser hospital, following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. — Reuters
Israeli troops battled Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday after expanding their offensive deeper into the besieged territory, with warnings that an "even more hellish scenario" was unfolding for trapped civilians.
Israel had initially focused its offensive on the north of the territory, but the army is now also dropping leaflets on parts of the south, telling Palestinian civilians there to flee to other areas.
Israeli tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were seen on Monday near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, which is packed with civilians who fled their homes further north in the territory earlier in the war, witnesses told AFP.
The army said on Monday that it was taking "aggressive" action against "Hamas and other terrorist organisations" in Khan Yunis, warning that the main road in the north and east of the city "constitutes a battlefield".
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Hamas claimed via Telegram its militants had targeted two personnel carriers and a tank near Khan Yunis.
Rocket salvos were again fired from Gaza towards Israeli territory.
As the war spreads, international aid organisations have warned that civilians in the densely populated territory are running out of places to flee to.
"Nowhere is safe in Gaza and there is nowhere left to go," said Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories.
"If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond," Hastings said in a statement.
'Like an earthquake'
In the city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, resident Abu Jahar Al Hajj said an air strike near his home felt "like an earthquake".
"Pieces of concrete started falling on us," he said.
In Deir al-Balah further to the north, Walaa Abu Libda found shelter at a hospital, but said her four-year-old daughter remained trapped under rubble.
"I don't know if she is dead or alive," said Libda, one of an estimated 1.8 million people displaced in Gaza -- roughly three-quarters of the population, according to UN figures.
The Israeli army on Tuesday denied telling the World Health Organisation (WHO) to empty an aid warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours before ground operations in the area render it unusable.
On Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that his organisation had received a notification from the military "that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours".
Key ally the US has cautioned Israel to do more to avert civilian casualties as operations shift to the south.
Israel on Monday said it was not seeking to force Palestinian civilians to permanently leave their homes, but that it was instead seeking support from aid groups to improve infrastructure in a tiny coastal area of Gaza named Al Mawasi.
"We have asked civilians to evacuate the battlefield and we have provided a designated humanitarian zone inside the Gaza Strip," Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, senior Israeli military officials admitted that around two civilians have been killed for every dead Hamas fighter in the Gaza Strip.
"Hopefully it (the ratio) will be much lower" in the coming phase of the war, one of the officials added.
To that end, the officials said, the army is using high-tech mapping software to track population movements inside the Gaza Strip and issue evacuation orders.
The system incorporates mobile phone and other signals, aerial surveillance and word from local sources, as well as AI, to maintain a constantly updating map showing population concentrations across the territory.
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No communications
But the UN humanitarian office OCHA has questioned the usefulness of such a tool in an area where access to telecommunications and electricity is sporadic.
On Monday, all mobile and telephone services were cut across Gaza "due to the cut-off of main fibre routes from the Israeli side", according to Palestinian telecommunications firm Paltel.
On Tuesday, global network monitor Netblocks confirmed Gaza residents were experiencing "a total loss of communications".
Israel declared war on Hamas after the group's October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and which saw around 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation, Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and secure the release of all the hostages held in Gaza.
The health ministry in Gaza says the war has killed nearly 15,900 people in the territory, around 70 percent of them women and children.
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