Israeli army calls for evacuation of civilian population in East Rafah

NOS News•today, 09:50•Amended today, 11:33

The evacuation of East Rafah has begun. Earlier today, the Israeli army posted a map on chat app Telegram showing where residents should go. Citizens from the east of the city are urged to go to Khan Younis or the coastal town of Al-Mawasi.

An army spokesman has said that this involves the evacuation of approximately 100,000 people. According to him, this is necessary because Israel is preparing an “operation of limited scope”. He did not say whether this is the start of a larger invasion of the city.

Eyewitnesses told Reuters that the first people have left Rafah. Photos show Palestinians loading items into a car. It is unclear at what scale citizens from the indicated area are actually leaving.

The Israeli army has issued flyers and text messages calling on the civilian population to leave East Rafah for Khan Younis or Al-Mawasi. Al-Mawasi had previously been declared a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli army. In a message on X, the army says it is expanding the area to accommodate the incoming evacuees.

However, an Al Jazeera journalist in Rafah states that the designated humanitarian zones are not safe. “These zones are under constant attack, the west of Khan Younis, or here, in Rafah,” he says. Because negotiations between Israel and Hamas threaten to break down, several civilians have already left Rafah in recent days. “But not necessarily to the designated evacuation zones, because they don’t believe what Israel says,” the reporter said.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, called the Israeli army’s call to leave Rafah “a dangerous escalation.” In addition to Israel, he also holds the United States responsible, he told Reuters.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas again discussed a truce last weekend, but that appears to have yielded no results.

About 1.4 million people live in and around Rafah. Most are refugees and live in tent camps. Before Israel’s invasion, about 275,000 people lived in the southern Gazan city.

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant has defended the importance of a ground offensive in Rafah to his American counterpart Austin. According to him, a raid is necessary because Hamas rejects proposals for a truce that would include the release of the hostages.

The United States has repeatedly urged Israel not to invade Rafah amid fears of a massacre. “That will lead to more deaths of innocent civilians, worsen the dire humanitarian crisis, increase anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally,” security adviser Sullivan said earlier.

UN aid agency UNRWA warns on X that an Israeli offensive in Rafah would have “devastating consequences” for Palestinians living in and around the city. “Civilians would suffer even more and it would mean even more civilian deaths,” the organization that provides humanitarian aid to refugees in Gaza said.

The aid organization does not want to leave Rafah. “We will stay here as long as we can and provide life-saving assistance.”