On Monday, the Israeli army urged Gazans living in eastern Rafah to evacuate to an expanded humanitarian area in the Palestinian territory, ahead of an expected military action in the southern Gaza metropolis.
In a statement, the army said, “IDF (military) encourages the Gazans in eastern Rafah to advance towards expanded humanitarian area”.
The potential of an invasion in Rafah has alarmed aid groups and world leaders.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Israel has yet to present a credible plan to genuinely protect the civilians who are in harm’s way and that without such a plan Washington can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah.
Soon after the war in Gaza began on October 7, Israel ordered Palestinians residing in the north to relocate to safe zones in the territory’s south including Rafah.
However, Rafah has been repeatedly bombed from the air, and Palestinians consistently claim that no portion of Gaza is safe.
“The IDF has expanded the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi to accommodate the increased levels of aid flowing into Gaza”, the military statement reads.
It went on to say, “This expanded humanitarian area includes field hospitals, tents, and increased amounts of food, water, medication, and additional supplies”.
A military spokesperson said, “This morning … we began a limited scope operation to temporarily evacuate residents in the eastern part of Rafah”.
“This is a limited-scope operation”, the spokesperson added.
The military stated that messages to temporarily move to the humanitarian area will be conveyed through posters, SMS messages, phone calls, and media broadcasts in Arabic.
“Troops will continue to hunt Hamas members everywhere in Gaza until all hostages that they are holding in captivity are back home”, the statement added.
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