The Israeli army asked all people in Rafah to evacuate before opening a large -scale attack into the southern city of Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) on March 31 issued a evacuation warning for all Palestinians in the city of Rafah and surrounding areas, declaring “about to resume strong fire fighting” in the southern Gaza strip.
This is the largest evacuation command given by IDF since resuming the attacking campaign at the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending nearly two months of stopping and exchanging hostages with Hamas. The warning was broadcast on the Eid al-Fitr holiday ending the Muslim Ramadan vegetarian month.
The map published by the spokesperson IDF AviDaee shows that the evacuation area covers a wide strip of land stretching from Rafah to Khan Younis, the area has not witnessed a series of competitions in the past two weeks.
Palestinian rescue staff died in the city of Rafah, after Israeli opened fire on an ambulance on March 23. Image: AFP
IDF on March 29 announced the expansion of war in southern Gaza, with units starting to enter Rafah to set up a “buffer zone” along the Egyptian border and destroy the infrastructure of armed groups against Israel.
A day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would increase military pressure to Hamas but ready to continue negotiating “under the bullet”, confirming this is the most effective way to bring hostages back. Netanyahu also recalled the request to give up the weapon, saying that Hamas leaders could leave the Gaza Strip under the new agreement, combining proposals from US President Donald Trump on “voluntary migration”.
Since resuming the campaign at the Gaza Strip, IDF announced that it would continue to search for high -level political leaders and Hamas’s middle -ranking military command, as well as the organization’s military infrastructure including weapons and Rocket launchers. Members of the Palestine Jihad Jihad (PIJ) and other allied armed groups with Hamas are also targeted.
Location Rafah and Khan Younis. Graphic: BBC
Over the past four weeks, Israel has blocked all supply of food, fuel, medicine and goods into Gaza, on the grounds that Hamas refused to extend the first -stage ceasefire agreement and did not release hostages.
921 people have been killed since Israel resumed large -scale air strikes in Gaza, bringing the total number of deaths since the war began to reach more than 50,200, according to statistics from the Gaza Strip Medical Agency on March 29.
The United Nations warned Gaza to be about to fall into a food crisis. Relief agencies were forced to cut half of the food rations for refugees, many humanitarian organizations could not work because of Israel’s continuous air strikes.