Israel orders evacuation of neighbourhoods in Rafah
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The Israeli military has told residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” last week after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 others wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October.
The Israeli army says about 300,000 people have left eastern Rafah since it ordered an evacuation of the southern Gaza city this week.
“So far, approximately 300,000 Gazans have moved towards the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi” since the order was issued on Monday, the military said in a statement.
Meanwhile negotiations for a potential truce and prisoner-captive exchange between Israel and Hamas have not entirely fallen through, reports Israel’s Ynetnews, quoting Israeli officials familiar with the negotiations.
Even as Israel presses on with military operations in Rafah, it is open to working towards a truce deal if it receives “answers from Hamas that we can work with”, the officials told Ynet.
Photo : RafahKid Kid via Flickr / Creative Commons
