Israeli army orders more evacuations from Rafah as it expands Gaza assault
Al JazeeraThe Israeli military has ordered residents in more areas of eastern and central Rafah to evacuate as it expands its offensive in the southernmost corner of the Gaza Strip, again displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians. Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said: “Israeli authorities dropped leaflets and made phone calls for more evacuation orders. They are now ordering people to flee from central areas of Rafah, not only the eastern portions, where battles are now raging.” Earlier on Saturday evacuation orders were issued for Shaboura and the vicinity of the Kuwait Specialty Hospital, Abu Azzoum said, adding that “people are told to flee because these areas will in the future become a military operation zone for the Israeli army. Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army said in a statement that “approximately 300,000 Gazans” had moved from the eastern part of Rafah to al-Mawasi since the order was issued on Monday. The Israeli army has claimed what it called a “temporary evacuation” was being communicated to people through leaflets, mobile text messages, phone calls and broadcasts in Arabic.