AN ISRAELI air strike killed at least nine people today in Khan Younis, less than a day after Israel ordered the evacuation of areas in and around the southern Gaza city, raising fears of a fresh ground assault by the Israeli military.

The overnight strike hit a home near the European Hospital, which is inside the zone that Israel said should be evacuated.

The military later announced that the facility itself did not have to be evacuated, but its director said that most patients and medics had already been moved.