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Israel has carried out a wave of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, triggering the mass displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families, witnesses say.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of five people, while dozens of injured civilians were evacuated to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to local reports.

The bombardment follows one of the largest evacuation orders issued since the war resumed in March.

It comes amid increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refocus efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Residents in Gaza City said dozens of Israeli air raids targeted densely populated eastern neighbourhoods, including Shujaiya, Tuffah, and Zeitoun.

Videos posted by activists on social media captured scenes of chaos and explosions illuminating the night sky, followed by flames and thick plumes of smoke rising above the skyline.

One of the strikes reportedly hit a school in Zeitoun that had been sheltering displaced families.

The five fatalities reportedly occurred in a strike at the Al Shati camp, to the west of Gaza City.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had earlier ordered residents to leave large parts of northern Gaza, in anticipation of the attacks. Most of those displaced overnight moved westwards within Gaza City rather than to the southern region as instructed by the IDF.

“We had no choice but to leave everything behind,” said Abeer Talba, a mother of seven who fled Zeitoun with her family.

“We got phone calls recordings in Arabic telling us we were in a combat zone and must evacuate immediately.

“This is the seventh time we’ve been forced to flee,” she added. “We’re in the streets again, no food, no water. My children are starving. Death feels kinder than this.”

Amid the growing humanitarian crisis, fears are mounting that the evacuation orders and sustained air strikes are part of a broader Israeli plan to expand its ground offensive deeper into Gaza.

But there is also speculation in Israeli media that some generals are close to concluding that military operations in Gaza are near to being achieved.

That is also the view of many former army leaders who fear that the descent of the Gaza campaign into more attritional, guerilla-style warfare would lead to more deaths – of hostages, civilians and soldiers.

The Israeli prime minister’s next moves are being closely watched. While Benjamin Netanyahu’s instincts have always been to continue the war and defeat Hamas, he is coming under increasing pressure at home and abroad to pursue a new ceasefire agreement.

At least 50 world leaders gather in Seville to address global concerns, including hunger, climate change and healthcare.

The United Nations Conference on Financing Development has opened in the southern Spanish city of Seville, as member states are expected to discuss global inequality amid a significant financial loss following the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding cut.

The once-in-a-decade event will be held from Monday to Thursday, aiming to address pressing global concerns, including hunger, poverty, climate change, healthcare, and peace.

At least 50 world leaders gathered in Seville, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Kenyan President William Ruto.

More than 4,000 representatives from businesses, civil society and financial institutions are also participating in the fourth edition of the event.

But the group’s most significant player, the US, is snubbing the talks following President Donald Trump’s decision to slash funding shortly after taking office in January.

In March, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said the Trump administration had cancelled more than 80 percent of all the USAID programmes.

Moreover, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France are also making cuts to offset the increased spending on defence, being imposed by Trump on NATO members.

But the series of cuts to developmental aid is concerning, with global advocacy group Oxfam International saying the cuts to development aid were the largest since 1960.

The UN also puts the growing gap in annual development finance at $4 trillion.

‘Seville Commitment’

The conference organisers have said the key focus of the talks is restructuring finance for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the last meeting in 2015 and expected to be met by 2030.

But with shrinking development aid, the goals of reaching the SDGs in five years, which include eliminating poverty and hunger, seem unlikely.

Earlier in June, talks in New York produced a common declaration, which will be signed in Seville, committing to the UN’s development goals of promoting gender equality and reforming international financial institutions.

Zambia’s permanent representative to the UN, Chola Milambo, said the document shows that the world can tackle the financial challenges in the way of achieving the development goals, “and that multilateralism can still work”.

However, Oxfam has condemned the document for lacking ambition and said “the interests of a very wealthy are put over those of everyone else”.

Russian warships and coastal missile systems struck simulated maritime targets with cruise missiles during exercises in the Sea of Japan, TASS state news agency reported on Monday, citing Russia’s defence ministry.

The ships and missile systems, all part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet forces, “carried out a joint missile strike against a complex target setup in the Sea of Japan, simulating enemy ships”, TASS cited the ministry’s statement as saying.

“All targets were successfully hit.”

The Fleet’s flagship, the Varyag Guards missile cruiser, carried out a live launch of a Vulkan anti-ship cruise missile, and two missile boat strike groups attacked targets with four Moskit cruise missiles, TASS reported.

The combat crew of the Bastion coastal missile system launched an Onyx anti-ship missile, it said.

The missile firing zone had been closed in advance to civilian shipping and air traffic, the agency reported.