The Israeli military has asked residents of eastern Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, to evacuate to an “expanded humanitarian area,” ahead of a possible offensive.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it “encourages” the residents of Eastern Rafah to move to an expanded humanitarian area in the al-Mawasi refugee camp, on the Mediterranean not far from the border with Egypt.
“In accordance with the approval of the government, an ongoing situation assessment will guide the gradual movement of civilians in the specified areas, to the humanitarian areas,” the IDF said in a Telegram post.
The IDF characterized the evacuation as “temporary,” adding that calls for the relocation would be “conveyed through posters, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in arabic.”
“The IDF will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they are holding in captivity are back home.”
