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JERUSALEM — As Israel expands its military operation in Rafah, it said some 300,000 Palestinians have fled toward Mawasi, a stretch of land near the sea in southern part of the territory designated a humanitarian zone.
The evacuation orders in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought shelter from fighting elsewhere in Gaza, signaled an imminent escalation - a move that could prompt the White House to freeze offensive weapons shipments. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari described the Rafah operation early Sunday as "precise" and "limited in scope," saying that Israeli forces were avoiding the city's "densely populated areas."
Relief agencies say Mawasi, the small coastal area in southern Gaza where Israel has ordered civilians sheltering in Rafah to flee, is ill-equipped to handle the influx. Mawasi, on the outskirts of Khan Younis, has for some time now been deemed a safe zone in the war, but has also been shelled.
"Forcing civilians to evacuate Rafah to unsafe zones is intolerable," European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement. "The claim of ‘safe zones' is false and misleading," United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees chief Philippe Lazzarini said, adding that most people in Gaza have been forcibly displaced on average once a month.
Israel argues that it needs to operate in Rafah to eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions. On Sunday, the IDF said that it killed 10 Hamas militants in Rafah, and located and dismantled tunnel shafts it said were used by militants.
The evacuation figure matched an estimate provided Sunday by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which said 300,000 have fled Rafah "over the last week." Western Rafah was "visibly emptying before our eyes," Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said on X. A resident of the Al-Awda neighborhood, meters away from the evacuation zone, told The Washington Post that the streets were emptying out.
Israel's evacuation orders also included Jabalya and Beit Lahia in the north. After sundown on Saturday, artillery fire boomed over parts of northern Gaza, which the World Food Program says is in the grips of a "full-blown famine."
Israel also said it struck targets in Jabalya in the north, where residents reported intense Israeli bombardment.
In a statement, the IDF said said its troops operated overnight in the city after its aircraft struck around 30 targets.
• Here's what to know
• United States is offering Israel sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group's hidden tunnels, The Washington Post reported, according to four people familiar with the U.S. offers, to stave off a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah.
• - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he did not support a major Israeli operation in Rafah, telling the BBC Sunday he was yet to see a plan from Israel to protect civilians there. At the same, he said London would not threaten to halt arms sales to Israel as it would strengthen Hamas.
• One of the Gaza's main telecom providers said internet services are facing disruption in the enclave's south. In a Facebook post Sunday, Paltel said its crews were working to restore communication services.
• U.S. Central Command forces said they destroyed three drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels over the Red Sea from Yemen on Saturday. In a post on X, U.S. forces said no one was hurt nor were any vessels damaged by the drones.
• Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Malmo, Sweden on Saturday. They shouted "Shame on you!" at people heading into the venue, as a police helicopters and drones circled overhead. Some critics said that Israel's participation in the contest was inappropriate as it wages war.
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