JERUSALEM - The Israeli army on Friday ordered a new round of evacuations in southern and central Gaza, including areas previously designated as humanitarian safe zones, citing the use of these areas by Hamas as bases for launching mortars and rockets towards Israel.

The Israeli military stated that warning flyers and text messages were sent to civilians in the area north of the southern city of Khan Younis and in the eastern part of Deir Al-Balah. These areas have become temporary shelters for tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting in other parts of Gaza.

"The advance warning to civilians is being issued in order to mitigate harm to the civilian population and to enable civilians to move away from the combat zone," the military said in a statement.

Earlier, the military reported targeting an area in Khan Younis from which rockets were launched towards the Israeli community of Kissufim on Thursday. The operation uncovered weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and explosives.

The evacuation warnings come as negotiators in Doha continue talks for a second day, aiming to reach a deal to halt the ongoing conflict in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents multiple times. Even in designated humanitarian safe zones, there have been reports of civilian casualties from Israeli strikes.

Israel has accused Hamas and other militant groups of using civilian areas as bases for military operations, a claim Hamas denies. The fighting in Gaza has become increasingly scattered, with Hamas adopting guerrilla warfare tactics involving small groups of fighters.

In a related development, violence erupted in the occupied West Bank, where dozens of Israeli settlers set fire to houses and cars in the Palestinian village of Jit, near the town of Nablus. The attack, which took place on Thursday evening, left one Palestinian dead and another critically injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the incident, stating that settlers, some wearing masks, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails during the attack. The IDF reported that one Israeli national was detained in Jit.

Israeli political leaders swiftly condemned the attack, pledging to bring those responsible to justice. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement saying, "Those responsible for any criminal act will be caught and prosecuted."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also denounced the violence, posting on social media, "This is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding community of settlers and the settlement as a whole and in the name and status of Israel in the world during a particularly sensitive and difficult period. Law enforcement officials must act immediately to bring those responsible to justice."

The IDF stated that its forces were deployed to Jit "within minutes" of receiving reports of the violence and used warning shots to disperse the attackers. The IDF, along with Israel's security agency Shin Bet and the Israeli police, has launched a joint investigation into what it described as a "serious incident."

Footage of the attack circulated on social media, showing houses and vehicles ablaze in Jit, with plumes of smoke rising above the village. Palestinian residents were seen assessing the damage the following day.

The incident in Jit has drawn international condemnation. A White House National Security Council spokesperson described the settler attacks as "unacceptable and must stop." The spokesperson added, "Israeli authorities must take measures to protect all communities from harm, this includes intervening to stop such violence, and holding all perpetrators of such violence to account."

Palestinians have long accused Israeli security forces of allowing violent settler groups to attack their villages with impunity. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there have been more than 1,000 settler attacks against Palestinians since October, resulting in the displacement of at least 1,390 people, including 660 children.

The violence has frequently turned deadly. OCHA recorded 107 incidents leading to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, and 859 cases causing damage to Palestinian property.

While international attention remains focused on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the scale of settler violence in the West Bank has prompted the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on some settler leaders and, for the first time, against entire settler outposts.