Source: Times of Israel
Israel’s army called on residents of Gaza, located in the eastern part of the city of Rafah, to head to the “expanded humanitarian zones”, reported AFP and DPA.
“The army urges residents of the eastern part of Rafah to head to the expanded humanitarian zones,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a communiqué.
According to the UN, Rafah is home to about 1.2 million Gazans, most of whom have been displaced by the fighting in other parts of the Strip.
“In accordance with the government’s approval, the ongoing assessment of the situation will guide the gradual movement of civilians from the designated areas to the humanitarian zones,” the IDF said in a statement posted on Telegram. The Israeli armed forces described the evacuation as “temporary” and added that calls for relocation would be “spread through leaflets, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”.
“The IDF will continue to pursue Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all hostages held captive return home,” the statement added.
A spokesman for the Israeli armed forces stressed at a press conference that the evacuation of civilians was part of a “limited-scale operation” to destroy Hamas, Reuters and AFP noted.
Earlier, Israel’s Army Radio reported that the armed forces were evacuating Palestinian civilians from Rafah.
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