Palestinians from Jabalia camp migrate to areas they consider safe with their belongings after the Israeli army requested Palestinians move to the west of Gaza City, May 11, 2024. /CFP
The Israeli army on Saturday ordered the further evacuation of Palestinian residents in eastern Rafah, citing upcoming military operations targeting Hamas militants in those areas.
"The residents of the camps of Shaboura and the Al-Adari, Al-Jeneina and Khirbet Al-Adas neighborhoods in Blocks 6-9, 17, 25-27, and 31 must leave their houses immediately," Avichai Adraee, a spokesperson for the Israeli army, said in a press statement.
Adraea claimed that Hamas militants used the mentioned areas for military activities against the Israeli people, which forced the army to expand its military operations there to eliminate the fighters of Hamas.
Adraee told the residents to head to al-Mawasi, a zone between the west of Rafah and Khan Younis.
Palestinian security sources said the evacuation means that the Israeli army "is gradually implementing its plan of evacuating the residents to prepare for a large-scale military operation and invasion in the city."
Journalists dismantle their tents and pack their equipment to move after the Israeli army ordered the further evacuation of Palestinian residents in eastern Rafah, Gaza, May 11, 2024. /CFP
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the the Israeli army's new evacuation order on Saturday has affected some 300,000 people in Gaza.
"We're extremely concerned these evacuation orders have come both towards central Rafah and Jabalia in northern Gaza," the agency said on social media platform X, adding that around 150,000 people have fled Rafah so far since Monday in search of safety and there is no safe place in the enclave.
The UNRWA said, "All decisions have a real impact on people here on the ground, especially children," emphasizing the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the territory has risen to 34,971, according to the Hamas-run health authorities on Saturday.
Smoke rises above buildings during an early morning Israeli strike on Rafah in southern Gaza, May 11, 2024. /CFP
South Africa's Presidency said Saturday that the country approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday to seek an urgent order from the court for the protection of the Palestinian people in Gaza amid Israel's ongoing military assault on Rafah.
South Africa has requested that the ICJ adopt additional provisional measures against Israel, including ordering Israel to immediately withdraw and cease its military actions in Rafah, and take measures to facilitate the access of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the presidency said in a statement.
South Africa also asks Israel to submit an open report to the ICJ on all the measures it has taken to give effect to all previous provisional measures indicated by the ICJ, according to the statement.
"The urgent application follows the escalation of Israel's assault on Rafah, which poses extreme risk to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, the survival of the Palestinian medical system and the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group," the presidency said.
The attack on Rafah further worsens the prevailing situation and causes irreparable harm to the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, and the situation has changed significantly since the ICJ's order on March 28, 2024, the presidency said. "South Africa is calling for urgent interventions and investigations of all actions that continue to cause irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians, including the use of artificial intelligence for targeted killings."
(With input from agencies)