GAZA (Reuters) - Intense Israeli air strikes have hit the southern part of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians, including those seeking shelter in designated areas, according to witnesses and journalists on the ground.

The Israeli military has also escalated its ground campaign against Hamas militants in the south of the enclave, following its successful takeover of the devastated north.

Expressing concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Israel to avoid any actions that would worsen the crisis and to protect civilians from further suffering.

The situation has become increasingly critical for the people who were ordered to evacuate, as there seems to be no safe place for them to seek refuge and limited resources for survival, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated.

Earlier today, Israeli authorities instructed Palestinians to leave certain areas in Khan Younis, the main southern city of Gaza. However, residents reported that even the locations they were directed to were not safe, and airstrikes were still occurring.

In a social media post, the Israeli military shared a map highlighting a quarter of Khan Younis that needed to be evacuated immediately.

Desperate Gaza residents in Khan Younis hastily packed their belongings and started moving towards the town of Rafah on foot, passing through the ruins of destroyed buildings in a somber and silent procession.

Unfortunately, even people in Rafah are being forced to flee due to the violence, according to Thomas White, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza (UNRWA). White stated that people are desperately seeking advice on finding safety, but unfortunately, the agency has no guidance to offer.

In a troubling development, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that at least 50 people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit two schools serving as shelters for displaced individuals in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City. However, at the moment, the Gaza health ministry has not commented on the report, and independent verification is pending. The Israeli army spokesperson stated that they are investigating the issue.

The health ministry provided separate figures, stating that at least 15,899 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments over the last eight weeks, with 70% of them being women or children. Additionally, thousands are still missing and feared to be buried under the rubble.

Israel initiated its assault as a response to a cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on October 7. According to Israeli reports, the attack resulted in 1,200 deaths and the capture of 240 hostages, marking it as the deadliest day in Israel's history.

Overnight bombing in Rafah left a massive crater, the size of a basketball court. Among the devastation, the sight of a toddler's lifeless feet and black trousers sticking out from the rubble highlighted the immense tragedy. Local men struggled to move the concrete debris that had crushed the child barehanded.

Eventually, they carried the bodies of the child and another small child through the ruins in a procession while chanting and expressing their grief.

Salah al-Arja, owner of a house destroyed in the airstrike, emphasized that there is no safe area in all of Gaza Strip, despite assurances from Israeli authorities.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilian areas, including tunnels, as operating bases, making it difficult to target them without causing collateral damage. However, Hamas denies these allegations.

The Israeli bombing campaign has caused as many as 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, resulting in the overcrowded coastal strip becoming a desolate wasteland.

Israeli forces have gained control over the northern half of Gaza since November, and following the collapse of a week-long truce on Friday, they have rapidly advanced into the southern half. Tanks have entered Gaza from the border, cutting off the main north-south route, according to reports from residents. The Israeli military has declared the central road out of Khan Younis leading to the north as a battlefield and closed it.

Hamas has reported clashes between its fighters and Israeli forces in northern Khan Younis overnight.

Brigadier-General Hisham Ibrahim, commander of Israel's armored corps, stated that they are close to achieving their goals in northern Gaza and are now expanding their ground maneuver into other parts of the Strip, with the ultimate objective of toppling the Hamas terrorist group.

Israel claims that its evacuation orders are meant to protect civilians from harm and is calling on international organizations to encourage Gazans to relocate to areas marked as safe on Israeli maps.

The United Nations has highlighted that the recent evacuation orders issued by Israel in the past three days have displaced over 350,000 people who had sought refuge in the southern areas before the conflict. This number does not include the additional hundreds of thousands who had already taken shelter in these regions.

For many Palestinians fleeing from Khan Younis today, it is their third displacement since they left their homes in Gaza City in the north.

In response to the ongoing violence, the United States, Israel's closest ally, has urged Israel to prioritize the safety of civilians in the southern part of Gaza, emphasizing the need to protect them more effectively than in the previous campaign in the north.

According to Gaza health authorities, around 900 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes since the truce ended on Friday.

Mirjana Spoljaric, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who is currently visiting Gaza, issued a statement expressing her dismay over the level of suffering endured by the population. She called for the protection of civilians, adherence to the laws of war, and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Spoljaric further highlighted the intolerable situation, emphasizing that civilians have nowhere safe to go in Gaza, and the current military siege restricts adequate humanitarian response.

As the violence continues and the civilian death toll rises, the international community's focus remains on finding a swift resolution to the conflict and alleviating the suffering of the people in Gaza.