Thousands flee their homes as Israeli forces bomb southern Gaza

Israeli military says it hit targets like weapon storage facilities and operational centres

CAIRO/GAZA Israeli forces bombarded several areas of the southern Gaza Strip on July 2 and thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in what could be part of a final push of Israel's intensive military operations in nine months of war.

Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded, health officials said. Israel's military said that two soldiers had been killed in battle a day earlier.

Israel's leaders earlier said they were winding down the phase of intense fighting against Hamas, the Islamist group that has governed Gaza since 2007, and would soon shift to more targeted operations.

Later on July 2, 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli tank shelling of a street in the densely populated Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City in the north of the Strip, medics said. Footage on some Palestinian social media that Reuters was not immediately able to verify showed the scene at a local market, with bread scattered on a floor stained with blood.

The Israeli army had ordered residents of several towns and villages in eastern Khan Younis to evacuate their homes on July 1, prior to tanks re-entering the area the military had left several weeks ago.