Israel orders to evacuate Rafah 

The Israeli army has instructed to evacuate Rafah as they are set to launch its long-threatened assault on the city in southern Gaza.

The move came as Israel and Hamas blamed one another for a breakdown in truce negotiations.

Israeli forces called on Monday for people in Rafah, into which huge numbers of displaced Palestinians were previously pushed, to evacuate to “an expanded humanitarian area”. 

The Israeli military said in social media posts that it “encourages” residents in eastern Rafah to move to an area in al-Mawasi refugee camp, located by the Mediterranean west of Khan Younis.

The army said calls to “temporarily” relocate would be “conveyed through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”.