Hundreds of Palestinians Begin Evacuating from Eastern Rafah

Gaza, MINA – Hundreds of Palestinians began evacuating from areas east of Rafah amid Israeli plans to invade the city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to witnesses, Anadolu Agency reports.

Witnesses said that evacuees began to move toward central and western Rafah, west of Khan Younis and north of Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders on Monday for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and called on them to move to the town of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Around 100,000 Palestinian civilians are estimated to be living in the areas to be evacuated, according to Israeli Army Radio.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following on October. 7 last year.

Since then, the Israeli onslaught has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)