鈥榃here can we go?鈥� say Rafah residents as Israel demands evacuation

People flee the eastern parts of Rafah after the Israeli military began evacuating Palestinian civilians ahead of a threatened assault on the southern Gazan city on May 6, 2024. (Reuters)
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  • Areas designated for evacuation currently shelter some 250,000 people
  • Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas, has killed at least 34,683 people in Gaza, mostly women and children

Rafah: Palestinian civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah voiced despair on Monday as Israel dropped fliers urging them to evacuate for their own 鈥渟afety鈥� ahead of a 鈥渓imited鈥� military operation.
Israel鈥檚 army said it was instructing Palestinian families in eastern Rafah to flee in preparation for an expected ground assault on the city which abuts Gaza鈥檚 border with Egypt.
Residents of Rafah described emerging outside after a terrifying night in which around a dozen air strikes were carried out on Rafah, to find fliers falling from the sky telling them to 鈥渆vacuate immediately.鈥�
鈥淭he army is working with intensive power against the terrorist forces near you,鈥� read a flier circulated in eastern Rafah.
鈥淔or your safety, the IDF (Israeli military) tells you to evacuate immediately toward the expanded humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi,鈥� it said, with a map indicating the location to the north of Rafah.
Osama Al-Kahlout, of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza, told AFP that the areas designated for evacuation currently shelter some 250,000 people, many of whom have already been displaced from other areas in the Gaza Strip.
鈥淭he evacuation process has begun on the ground, but in a limited manner,鈥� he said.
An Israeli militark spokesman, when asked how many people should move, said: 鈥淭he estimate is around 100,000 people.鈥�
About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization, most having fled there during the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.
Amid pouring rain, some of those sheltering in Rafah said they had begun packing up their things from the densely packed tents and preparing to leave even before Israel鈥檚 directive arrived.
鈥淲hatever happens, my tent is ready,鈥� a resident told AFP.
But others said the area they were being told to flee to was already overcrowded, and they did not trust that it would be safe.
Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar, 36, said he and 12 family members were in the designated evacuation area.
Jazar and his family did not know what to do, he said, because the 鈥渉umanitarian zone鈥� they were told to head for 鈥渄oes not have enough room for us to make tents because they are (already) full of displaced people.鈥�
鈥淲here can we go? We do not know,鈥� he told AFP.
鈥淭here are also no hospitals and it is far from any services many need,鈥� he said, adding that one of his family members relied on dialysis at the Al-Najar hospital, in the area of Rafah instructed to evacuate.
鈥淗ow will we deal with her after that? Should we watch her die without being able to do anything?鈥�
An Israeli military spokesman told reporters that the evacuation 鈥渋s part of our plans to dismantle Hamas ... we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational abilities in Rafah yesterday.鈥�
On Sunday, four Israeli soldiers were killed and others wounded, the army said, when a barrage of rockets was fired toward the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
The army said the rockets were fired from an area adjacent to Rafah.
International aid organizations have voiced alarm at the expected invasion of Rafah.
鈥淔rom the humanitarian perspective, no credible humanitarian plan for an attack on Rafah exists,鈥� said Bushra Khalidi, advocacy director for Oxfam in the Palestinian territories.
She said she could 鈥渘ot fathom that Rafah will happen,鈥� asking where displaced Palestinians will go 鈥渨hen most of their surroundings have been reduced to death and rubble?鈥�
Gaza鈥檚 bloodiest-ever war broke out following Hamas鈥檚 unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized some 250 hostages, with Israel estimating that 128 of them remain in Gaza, including 35 whom the military says are dead.
Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas, has killed at least 34,683 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory鈥檚 health ministry.