The Israeli military has ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signaling that a long-awaited ground invasion could be imminent.
The evacuation order comes as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas appear to have stalled due to intense disagreements between the warring parties.
The United States and Qatar, which are mediating negotiations with Egypt, were due to hold talks Monday in Doha, but state-linked Egyptian media said ceasefire talks were on point dead after a rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to send ground forces to Rafah to attack Hamas fighters regardless of any truce, despite concerns from key allies the United States, other countries and humanitarian groups , regarding a humanitarian crisis in the city.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has condemned the Israeli army’s “forced and illegal” evacuation order in Rafah, saying it could lead to “the deadliest phase of this conflict”.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the international nonprofit NRC, says there are not enough resources in the self-declared humanitarian zone of Al-Muwasi, where the army has ordered some 100,000 people to relocate to Rafah.
Israel has described Rafah as Hamas’ last significant stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said they must carry out a ground invasion to defeat its fighters.
Hamas called on the international community to act quickly “to put an end to the crime that threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians.” He also called on international agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), to remain in Rafah and support the population.
Israel’s war on Gaza has driven around 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from their homes and caused widespread destruction in several towns.
Since October, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 34,700 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters carried out an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune tally based on Israeli statistics.