The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling it could relaunch intensive operations in the area.
The order — which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday — heralded renewed hardship for Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, which has been battered by the war between Israel and Hamas. The war restarted two weeks ago after a monthslong cease-fire collapsed.
In the past, the Israeli military has ordered evacuations ahead of both aerial attacks and ground maneuvers that it has said were targeting Hamas.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, on Monday posted a map of the affected areas on his social media accounts, including Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. He said Palestinians must relocate to shelters in a costal region to the north.
Israel’s military “is returning to fighting with great force to take out the capabilities of terrorists organizations in these areas,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, Mr. Adraee announced an evacuation order for some neighborhoods in Rafah, and the maps he posted on Monday again included those.
It was not clear how many people were still in Rafah when Mr. Adraee made his post and how many intended to follow his instructions. While hundreds of thousands of people lived there before the war, wide swathes of the city have since been reduced to rubble.
Over the past two weeks, Mr. Adraee has issued evacuations orders for other parts of Gaza, but many residents of those areas have seemingly ignored them.
Since the start of the war ignited by the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on Israel, Palestinians in Gaza have been repeatedly displaced by the fighting — a miserable experience that has forced many people to live in crowded makeshift shelters next to strangers.
The Israeli military resumed its operations against Hamas in Gaza on March 18 after Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement to extend a cease-fire that started in January.
Israel and Hamas have been speaking to mediators about a potential deal to restore the cease-fire, but a breakthrough has not yet been achieved.
