Netanyahu orders Gaza’s crowded Rafah evacuated ahead of an expected ground invasion

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah following international criticism of Israel’s plan to invade the crowded town on Egypt’s border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza town.

Mr. Netanyahu made the announcement on February 9 following international criticism of Israel's plan to invade the crowded town on Egypt's border.

Israel says Rafah is the last remaining Hamas stronghold and it needs to send in troops to complete its war plan against the Islamic militant group. But an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have crammed into the town after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu said a “massive operation” is needed in Rafah. He said he asked security officials to present a “double plan” that would include the evacuation of civilians and a military operation to “collapse” remaining Hamas militant units.

Earlier in the day, Israel bombed targets in Rafah. The attack took place hours after Biden administration officials and aid agencies warned Israel against expanding its Gaza ground offensive to the town where more than half of the territory's 2.3 million people have sought refuge.

Airstrikes overnight and into February 9 hit two residential buildings in Rafah, while two other sites were bombed in central Gaza, including one that damaged a kindergarten-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians. Twenty two people were killed, according to AP journalists who saw the bodies arriving at hospitals.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on February 8 that Israel's conduct in the war, ignited by a deadly October 7 Hamas attack, is “over the top,” the harshest U.S. criticism yet of its close ally and an expression of concern about a soaring civilian death toll in Gaza.