More Canadians have been approved to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.
A new document published by Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders shows 165 names under the “Canada” heading.
Israel’s military on Sunday ordered more areas in and around Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate, as it shifted its offensive to the southern half of the territory where it says many Hamas leaders are hiding.
Heavy bombardments were reported overnight and into Sunday in the area of Khan Younis as well as Rafah itself.
Many of the territory’s 2.3 million people are crammed in the south after Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the 2-month-old war.
The war was sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel.
The health ministry in Gaza announced that the overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 15,200, a sharp jump from the previous count of more than 13,300 on Nov. 20.
Global News has reached out to Canadian officials for confirmation, and are awaiting response.
–with files from The Associated Press.
© 2023 The Canadian Press