Is this preparation for the ground offensive? Israel has called on civilians in Rafah to leave the city. Around 100,000 people in the south of the Gaza Strip are affected.
The Israeli army has called on residents in the east of the city of Rafah to move to the Al-Muwassi area near the coast, according to a statement from the armed forces. Aid in the expanded “humanitarian zones” has been expanded. Field hospitals, tents, food and water are available.
The army also said it was informing residents through posters, text messages, calls and media appeals in Arabic. The call was made as part of a “limited” operation to destroy the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, a military spokesman said in an online press conference.
100,000 people affected
According to the army, “around 100,000 people” are affected by the evacuation. In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, around 1.2 million people have sought refuge from the fighting between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. The Israeli government describes the city as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the coastal strip.
It is unclear whether the Israeli army will move into the areas mentioned to extract civilians or whether there will just be the calls. It is also unclear whether Hamas is preventing people from leaving Rafah.
Israel has been announcing a ground offensive in Rafah for months in order to destroy remaining structures of the militant Islamist Hamas there. Just on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Hamas of not being seriously interested in an agreement with Israel. The minister warned of a major operation in Rafah in the “very near future.”