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The Israeli military has told tens of thousands of Palestinians to leave the southern Gazan city of Rafah as Israel’s defence minister warned of an imminent military “operation”.
At least 100,000 civilians in Rafah should move to what Israel calls a humanitarian zone on the Mediterranean, an Israel Defence Force spokesperson told reporters, in “a limited scope” operation as part of a “gradual plan”.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, told troops in Gaza on Sunday that there were “worrying signs” that negotiations over a ceasefire and a hostage swap with militant group Hamas were flailing. “The implication of this is an operation in Rafah and all of the Gaza Strip in the very near future,” he said. “We are a moment before action.”
The evacuation order came amid conflicting reports on the progress of negotiations that could see as many as 33 Israeli hostages freed by Hamas, in exchange for a temporary pause in hostilities that would delay any Israeli operation in Rafah.
A Hamas spokesperson told the Al-Aqsa TV channel that the militant group continued to insist on a “permanent ceasefire” before it would agree to free any hostages, a stumbling block that has derailed prior negotiations.
CIA director Bill Burns is expected to visit Israel after talks in recent days in Egypt with mediators on the details of the proposal, which is being brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar.
The proposal, at present being studied by Hamas, leaves open the possibility of continued negotiations during an initial limited ceasefire. This could see more of the estimated 132 hostages — including kidnapped soldiers — freed in exchange for a “sustainable calm”.
The evacuation order came after three Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday in a mortar attack on the Israeli side of the area being evacuated, near the Kerem Shalom border crossing that is crucial for humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza.
The IDF spokesperson declined to say if the order was prompted by the attack. The attack “was a reminder of Hamas’s presence”, he said.
Israel’s western allies have repeatedly warned it not to invade Rafah without a detailed plan to protect the more than 1mn Palestinian civilians who have sought shelter in the southern edge of the besieged enclave.
Gallant spoke late on Sunday with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, who repeated Washington’s concerns that any Israeli military operation in Rafah must include a “credible” plan for protecting civilians.
The IDF spokesperson declined to comment on whether Israel’s current plans had been submitted to or approved by the US.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies have threatened to collapse his government if he accepts an end to the war in Gaza without dismantling the remaining Hamas battalions that Israel says are now in Rafah.
