JERUSALEM — Even after Israel announced plans to pull back some combat troops from Gaza, signaling a new phase of the war, intense fighting has continued in the territory.

The Israeli military says its troops have killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in Jabalia in the north, and targeted others in Gaza City and coastal areas.

It says that troops seized weapons and dismantled rocket launchers in Khan Younis and in a UN school in al-Bureij in the centre of the strip.

Residents say that Israeli war planes and tanks have stepped up bombings and artillery fire in the eastern and northern parts of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians sought refuge after being forced from their homes elsewhere.

One man told the BBC that each day hundreds of people were continuing to make their way south to Rafah in search of safety.

The Hamas-run health ministry says 207 Palestinians have been killed and 338 wounded in the past 24 hours.

In total 22,185 Palestinians have been killed and 57,035 wounded in the enclave since the war began on 7 October, the health ministry said in a statement. — BBC