(CNN) — The Israeli military is calling on residents of eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately,” a day after the country’s defense minister told troops inside Gaza to expect “intense action in Rafah in the near future.”
Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson Unit, wrote: “For your safety, the Defense Army urges you to immediately evacuate to the expanded humanitarian area at the checkpoints.”
Adraee made “an urgent appeal” to people residing in “Al-Shawka municipality and in the neighborhoods: Al-Salam, Al-Jneina, Tiba Zaraa and Al-Bayouk in the Rafah area.”
Constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza since October 7 has devastated the besieged enclave, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble and many of those seeking refuge in Rafah have been displaced several times in the seven months of war.
An IDF spokesperson said in a briefing on Monday that this was a “limited scope operation to temporarily evacuate” and “not a large-scale evacuation.”
Aid agencies have been warning Israel against launching a large-scale ground invasion of Rafah, saying that “any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city. southern part of the strip and its surroundings, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters. in Geneva.
Col. Nadav Shoshani, an international spokesman for the IDF, said in a briefing on Monday that this was a “limited-scope operation to temporarily evacuate” and “not a large-scale evacuation.”
Israel has repeatedly signaled plans to send troops to Rafah, a southern city on the border with Egypt, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are believed to have taken refuge since October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant told troops inside Gaza on Sunday morning to expect “intense action in Rafah in the near future, and elsewhere across the strip,” because – as he put it – Hamas has no intention of reaching an agreement on the hostages. and a ceasefire.
The announcement came a day after Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian trucks after it was hit by at least 10 rockets on Sunday morning, according to the IDF. The crossing has been essential in bringing aid to Gaza.
Three IDF soldiers were killed and three seriously injured in the rocket attack claimed by Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
It was unclear whether the evacuation call was in response to the attack at Kerem Shalom, and the border crossing remained closed on Monday.
The IDF also did not give an exact time frame for how much time they have to evacuate people in eastern Rafah nor did they offer any guarantees that the area they would move to would not be bombed.
“People have at least days to move. As I said, we are conducting real-time situation assessments and assessing the situation,” said the IDF’s Shoshani.
He said the current evacuation affects about 100,000 people.
When asked by CNN about the operational reason for the move, Shoshani said: “It is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas and, as I said, yesterday we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational capabilities and their well-being, and as part of our plans to dismantle us and bring back our hostages.”
Israel’s previous orders to evacuate parts of Gaza ahead of military operations have been met with criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian groups, which have repeatedly said there is no safe space in the strip for people to flee to.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
