The newest evacuation orders apply to people in the central part of the city. In 2017, Rafah's population was about 234,000, but it has swollen to around 1.4 million as people elsewhere in Gaza sought shelter from Israel's military campaign.
Israel said it will move ahead with ground operations in the overcrowded Rafah, despite warnings from its Western allies and the United Nations that such an offensive could produce a large number of civilian casualties.
The French Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the operation could "cause a catastrophic situation for the civilian population of Gaza."
Israeli officials say the evacuations are necessary to limit civilian casualties as the country's military prepares for an all-out ground offensive in Rafah.
At the same time, Israel also ordered further evacuations in areas around Gaza City over attempts by Hamas militants to regroup.
"Following attempts by Hamas to reassemble its terrorist infrastructure and operatives in Jabaliya, the IDF has called on the civilian population of Jabaliya and the surrounding areas to temporarily evacuate to shelters in western Gaza City," the Israel Defense Forces said on X Saturday morning.
"This is being done in accordance with international law to reduce harm to the civilian population and move civilians away from the combat zone."
On Tuesday, Israeli troops launched a campaign to capture the lone border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, killing around 20 Hamas militants in the process.
Earlier in the week, President Joe Biden said the United States would not continue to supply Israel with offensive weapons for use in Rafah if its military goes through with the full military ground campaign in the Palestinian enclave's southernmost city.
The IDF published photos Saturday of a new field hospital in central Gaza, aimed at treating civilians that were relocated from eastern Rafah.
Hamas said it is holding the United States "fully responsible" for the progressing IDF military operation in Rafah.
"We hold the U.S. administration and its President Biden fully responsible for the escalation of these crimes against civilians, including children, women and the elderly, by continuing to provide cover for Zionist fascism to continue its crimes," the terrorist group said in a statement Saturday.
Israel army says three troops hurt in Rafah tunnel blast
Jerusalem (AFP) May 9, 2024 -
The Israeli military said three soldiers were wounded in an explosion Thursday in a "booby-trapped shaft" in Rafah, the south Gaza city where troops launched an incursion earlier this week.
"Earlier today (Thursday), three IDF (army) soldiers were moderately injured as a result of the explosion of a booby-trapped shaft in eastern Rafah," the military said in a statement.
"The soldiers were evacuated to the hospital to receive medical treatment," it added.
The announcement came after Israel defied vociferous international opposition to any major military operation in Rafah by sending ground troops into eastern areas of the city in "targeted raids".
Israel says Rafah is the last redoubt of Hamas's remaining fighters but the city on the border with Egypt is also crammed with displaced Palestinian civilians.
US President Joe Biden has threatened to stop some arms deliveries to Israel if it goes ahead with a full-scale assault on Rafah, where the UN says 1.4 million people are sheltering.
The Gaza war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized some 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 36 officials say are presumed dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
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