Israel orders further evacuations in Rafah as it prepares to expand operations in Gaza’s southernmost city

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military issued an “urgent warning” Saturday to evacuate parts of Rafah, signaling an expansion of its military campaign despite U.S. warnings about attacking Gaza’s southernmost city where more of a million Palestinians have taken refuge.

The Israeli military released a map showing that parts of the city were now considered a “dangerous combat zone” and warned civilians that it would “act with extreme force against terrorist organizations in your area of ​​residence” .

“Everyone in these areas is risking their lives and the lives of their family members,” he said. “For your safety, we ask you to evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone.”

Israel has already sent tanks to Rafah and requested months that it will launch a large-scale ground attack on the city. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of his government have stressed the need to ensure the destruction of Hamas after the October 7 attacks on Israel that left some 1,200 people dead and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israel.

That would defy pressure from the United States and others who have warned that such an attack risked devastating consequences for Palestinians who have fled the rest of the enclave.

Facing growing domestic anger, President Joe Biden has become increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in the war, in which an estimated 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, for most women and children, according to health officials in the enclave.

On Friday, the Biden administration said it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel had violated international law in Gaza by using U.S.-supplied weapons, but that it had not violated the terms American arms deals.

Senior administration officials previously told NBC News that the United States halted a major shipment of offensive weapons to Israel last week, fearing they could be used to invade Rafah. Biden later said the United States would not provide Israel with certain weapons and artillery shells if it launched a ground offensive on the city.

Along with representatives from Qatar and Egypt, U.S. officials, including CIA Director William Burns, have led attempts to broker a ceasefire in the conflict. But latest efforts appear to have been in vain after Israeli and Hamas mediators left Cairo this week after failing to reach an agreement. Hamas – a terrorist group banned in most of the West – said negotiations were back to square one.

Meanwhile, UN experts demanded Thursday that “Israel end this aggression,” which they called in a press release “the culmination of a seven-month campaign to forcibly transfer and to destroy the population of Gaza.”

Israel took control of the Rafah border crossing, the main entry and exit point from Gaza to Egypt. The UN said this had resulted in “further cutting off vital humanitarian aid, supplies and fuel needed to operate Gaza’s remaining hospitals and water desalination plants”.

Doctors Without Borders also warned that “essential supplies, including fuel, are running out,” which it said “would have critical consequences on our operations.”

Hamas, the militant group that controlled Gaza before the latest Israeli attack, also criticized the decision. In a statement Saturday, he urged Israel to “end its aggression, withdraw from the crossing, reopen it and facilitate the arrival of emergency relief and medical supplies to our besieged people.”

The Israeli order on Saturday applied to areas of central Rafah, more populated areas than the places Israel had ordered to evacuate earlier in the week.

Additionally, the IDF also urged residents of Jabalia, a town in northern Gaza, to “temporarily evacuate to shelters west of Gaza City.”

He said “this aims to reduce harm to the civilian population and to remove civilians from the combat zone, in accordance with international law.”

Israel’s evacuation warning came amid violent clashes on the city’s outskirts between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, rendering crucial humanitarian crossing points nearby inaccessible. More than 110,000 people have already fled the city to the north.

The Israeli military advised the Palestinians to move to Al-Mawasi, a nearby coastal area where Israel promised an “expanded humanitarian zone” would await them.

However, the concept of these “safe zones” has been widely questioned. An NBC News investigation revealed last month that Palestinians had been killed in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as such.

The UN said Thursday that Al Mawasi, where the Israeli army ordered evacuees to go, “already lacks food, water, medicine, hygiene products, electricity, shelter and access to education for children; it cannot cope with an influx of population.

Richard Engel reported from Jerusalem and Alexander Smith from London.