A massive exodus of thousands of citizens from Rafah to the western Gaza Strip

Gaza - Together - Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from the center of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza, to areas west of the Gaza Strip, on Saturday, hours after the Israeli army warned to evacuate the area in preparation for expanding its military operations in the city. Anatolia Agency reported, citing eyewitnesses, that thousands of Palestinians began fleeing from the neighborhoods of central Rafah to the west of the cities of Deir al-Balah (central) and Khan Yunis (south). Witnesses reported that the displaced people began re-erecting tents in the areas they arrived in the absence of any shelter there. They pointed out that a small number of cars and trucks helped the Palestinians to flee from the center of Rafah in light of the scarcity of transportation due to the insufficient availability of fuel in the Strip. Large numbers of children and women appeared among the ranks of the displaced, who were walking on foot through rugged terrain, heading to areas west of the Gaza Strip, according to A nadolu's correspondent. They were carrying some blankets and food on their way to the new displacement areas in the west of the Gaza Strip. The displaced people walk a distance ranging between 7-10 kilometers to reach the areas west of Khan Yunis, and a longer distance to reach west of Deir al-Balah, according to Anadolu's correspondent. Earlier Saturday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that 150,000 Palestinians had been displaced from Rafah after the military operation launched by Israel on the city, ignoring all international warnings. 'Everywhere you look west of Rafah, this morning, you see families packing up their belongings and the streets largely empty,' Louise Waterridge, from UNRWA's media department, said in a post on the X platform. She added: "UNRWA estimates that 150,000 people have now fled Rafah. Evacuation orders have been issued for new areas towards central Rafah in the south and Jabalia in northern Gaza." Simultaneously, the Israe li army expanded its ground and air attacks, on Saturday, in all the governorates of Gaza after demanding the displacement of the people of large areas north of the Gaza Strip and downtown Rafah, and its incursion into the south of Gaza City and east of Khan Yunis, in addition to carrying out a series of violent raids that resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries in various areas of the Gaza Strip. . Despite mounting international warnings about expanding military operations in Rafah, the Israeli army called, on Saturday morning, for the immediate displacement of residents of neighborhoods in the heart of the city, thus expanding its operations that began on Monday, east of the city. In a statement, he also called on residents and displaced people of large areas north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate and go to shelters west of Gaza City. The Israeli army is pushing to gather the displaced people of Rafah in the Al-Mawasi area, located on the coastal strip of the Mediterranean Sea, extending over a distance o f 12 kilometers and one kilometer deep, from Deir Al-Balah in the north, passing through Khan Yunis Governorate in the south, until the beginnings of Rafah in the far south of the Strip. The area is largely open and not residential. It also lacks infrastructure, sewage networks, electricity lines, communications networks, and the Internet, and most of its land is divided into agricultural or sand greenhouses. Source: Maan News Agency