Israel orders Rafah evacuation as Gaza truce talks stall
Al Jazeera
Blaming Hamas for deadlocked negotiations, Israel appears set to launch threatened offensive on southern Gaza city.
The Israeli army appears set to launch its long-threatened assault on Rafah as it instructs Palestinians to leave parts of the city in southern Gaza.
Israeli forces called on Monday for people in Rafah, into which huge numbers of displaced Palestinians were previously pushed, to evacuate to “an expanded humanitarian area”. The move came as Israeli officials blamed Hamas for a breakdown in truce negotiations.
The Israeli military said in social media posts that it “encourages” residents in eastern Rafah to move to an area in al-Mawasi refugee camp, located by the Mediterranean west of Khan Younis.
The army said calls to “temporarily” relocate would be “conveyed through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”.
“[Israeli forces] will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they are holding in captivity are back home,” it said.
