The main United Nations agency helping Palestinians in Gaza said early Sunday that around 300,000 people had fled over the past week from Rafah, the town on the southern edge of the enclave where more than a million Gazans have been displaced. They had sought refuge from Israeli bombing elsewhere for the past seven years. months.
The UN agency, known as UNRWA, made the announcement on social media hours after the Israeli government issued new evacuation orders in Rafah and other parts of Gaza, deepening fears that the Israeli army was preparing to invade the city despite international warnings.
The World Food Program echoed those warnings on Sunday, expressing concern about the displacement of civilians and saying that a full-scale invasion of Rafah would be “catastrophic.”
“Families are once again on the move, seeking shelter, food, water, but with fewer resources,” he wrote on social media.
Paltel, the Gaza Strip’s largest telecommunications company, said on Sunday that internet service was out in parts of southern Gaza due to Israeli military operations and that teams were working to restore services “as quickly as possible.” possible”.
Doctors Without Borders, an aid group whose staff has been working in Gaza during the war, also said on social media that it had begun referring the last 22 patients from one hospital, the Indonesian Field Hospital in Rafah, to other facilities because it “could no longer guarantee their safety.”
Gaza’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, and one of the three main hospitals in Rafah that were partially functioning before the Israeli military operation there this month has already closed.
There has been heavy shelling and fighting around Rafah since Monday, when Israel took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, largely stopping the flow of aid. Since then, dozens of people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Rafah, local health officials say.
Israeli warplanes on Saturday dropped leaflets over parts of Rafah and a part of northern Gaza ordering people to flee. The warning about Rafah was in addition to existing evacuation orders there.
The Israeli military has told Gaza residents in Rafah to temporarily evacuate to an “expanded humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi,” a coastal area north of the city that the United Nations and international officials have stressed is not safe. nor is it equipped to receive them.
“Forcing civilians to evacuate Rafah to unsafe areas is intolerable,” said Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat. he wrote Saturday night on the social media platform. He urged Israel not to press ahead with a ground offensive in Rafah, saying it would “further exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.”
Israel has called its raids in eastern Rafah this month “precise operations” targeting Hamas, the armed group that led the October 7 attacks in southern Israel. Several countries and international aid groups have condemned the prospect of a full-scale invasion of Rafah, saying it would be catastrophic for civilians.
President Biden halted a weapons shipment to Israel over fears the weapons could be used in a major attack on Rafah, and warned that the United States would withhold certain weapons, including heavy bombs and artillery shells, if Israel goes ahead with the operation.
Matthew Mpoke Bigg contributed with reports.