The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that an Israeli operation launched in Khan Yunis has killed 70 people and wounded more than 200 others, a toll AFP could not immediately verify.
"Due to the Israeli occupation's attacks and massacres in Khan Yunis governorate from the early hours of this morning until now, 70 people have been martyred and more than 200 wounded," the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli military did not offer comment on the toll, when asked by AFP.
But in a statement, the military said its fighter jets and tanks "struck and eliminated terrorists in the area".
It said forces targeted more than "30 terror infrastructure" sites in Khan Yunis.
Israeli warplanes also hit a weapons storage facility, observation posts, tunnel shafts and structures used by Hamas militants, it added.
Earlier on Monday, the military ordered Gazans to leave the eastern part of a designated humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis, saying it was preparing to "forcefully operate" there after rockets were fired from the area.
In recent months, the Israeli army has launched intense military operations in several areas of Gaza that were previously declared free of Hamas militants.