Israel's Expanded Operation In Gaza, Starts New Evacuations And Humanitarian Crisis

New evacuations were ordered in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Saturday, resulting in tens of thousands more people being forced to move as Israel prepares to expand its operation. It was also announced that Israel is moving into an area in northern Gaza where Hamas has regrouped.

The eastern third of Rafah has now been evacuated by Israel, pushing the operation to the edges of the heavily populated central area, although the move into the city has so far been short of the full-scale invasion that was planned, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Israel's Expanded Operation In Gaza

The order comes in the face of heavy international opposition and criticism. Offensive weapons will not be provided to Israel for Rafah, as stated by U.S. President Joe Biden, and on Friday it was stated by the U.S. that there was "reasonable" evidence that Israel had breached international law protecting civilians in the way the war against Hamas was conducted - the strongest statement made on the matter by the Biden administration.

For weeks, the United Nations and other agencies have been warning that an Israeli assault on Rafah, which borders Egypt near the main aid entry points, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties, as reported by AP.

More than 1.4 million Palestinians - half of Gaza's population - have been sheltering in Rafah, most after fleeing Israel's offensives elsewhere. Considered the last refuge in the strip, the evacuations are forcing people to return north where areas are devastated by previous Israeli attacks. Aid agencies estimate that 110,000 had done so before Saturday's order which adds a further 40,000 to that number.

People have been displaced multiple times and there are few places left in the embattled strip to move to. Those fleeing fighting earlier this week erected new tent camps in the city of Khan Younis - which was half destroyed in an earlier Israeli offensive - and the city of Deir al-Balah, straining infrastructure, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Humanitarian workers in Rafah, including Georgios Petropoulos from the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have indicated that they have no supplies to help them set up in new locations. "We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system," Petropoulos said.

The Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has been captured by Israeli troops, forcing it to shut down. Rafah was the main point of entry for fuel. The World Food Program has warned that it will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday, Petropoulos said. Aid groups have said fuel will also be depleted soon, forcing hospitals to shut down critical operations and bringing to a halt trucks delivering aid across south and central Gaza, as per media reports.

Heavy fighting is also underway in northern Gaza, where Hamas appeared to have once again regrouped in an area where Israel has already launched punishing assaults. Israeli Army spokesman Avichay Adraee told Palestinians in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya cities and the surrounding areas to leave their homes and head to shelters in the west of Gaza City, warning that people were in "a dangerous combat zone" and that Israel was going to strike with "great force."

Battles erupted this week in the Zeitoun area on the outskirts of Gaza City. Northern Gaza was the first target of the ground offensive. Israel said late last year that it had mostly dismantled Hamas in the area. The United Nations agency supporting people in Gaza, known as UNRWA, said that some 300,000 people have been affected by evacuation orders in Rafah and Jabaliya, but the numbers could likely be more as these are very built-up areas.

"We're extremely concerned that these evacuation orders have come both towards central Rafah and Jabaliya," Louise Wateridge, UNRWA spokesperson in Rafah, as reported by The Associated Press. Meanwhile, strikes are continuing across Gaza.

At least 19 people, including eight women and eight children, were killed overnight in central Gaza in strikes that hit the areas of Zawaida, Maghazi, and Deir al Balah, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah and an Associated Press journalist who counted the bodies.

Israel's bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.