Israeli military orders evacuation of central Rafah The Israeli military has told residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” last week after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods. More than 150,000 people have already fled the city. Many have fled to an “expanded humanitarian zone”, designated by the IDF on the coast and to the northwest where conditions are “horrific”, according to aid workers there. The new instructions to residents suggest a coming offensive will take the IDF into the centre of Rafah, threatening destruction and displacement of many more, and a likely advance through the entire city. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying that Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there. Closing summary Here’s a recap of the latest developments: The Israeli military has told residents of central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people. The new instructions to residents suggest a coming offensive will take the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the centre of Rafah and on to a likely advance through the entire city. On Saturday morning, Israeli tanks were positioned on Salahuddin Road, which divides central Rafah from the already evacuated eastern neighbourhoods, witnesses said. More than 150,000 people have already fled the southern city in Gaza since receiving warnings on Monday from the IDF of an imminent military operation, marking one of the largest displacements for many months. Many have been displaced many times as they have fled successive Israeli military offensives across Gaza. The people of Rafah are “exhausted, degraded, humiliated” after days of “relentless” bombardment, an Unrwa official said. The Biden administration is offering Israel “valuable assistance” in an attempt to stave off a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah, according to a report. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there. Closure of the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, and the difficulties in reaching the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel because of the fighting, mean limited aid is reaching southern and central Gaza. The IDF seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last week in what it said was a “precise, targeted operation”; since then, prices for some basic necessities have soared. Though the Kerem Shalom crossing is open, it is too dangerous for aid agencies to collect supplies crossing from Israel. Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing, citing Israel’s “unacceptable escalation”, Egyptian media is reporting. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted, according to Reuters. At least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 others wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Saturday. Protesters gathered across Israel on Saturday to protest against the government and call for early elections as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas armed wing said the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike more than a month ago. Popplewell, 51, was a captive taken from Kibbutz Nirim and a video previously showed him displaying visible signs of physical abuse. The US has said it is “reasonable to assess” that the weapons it has provided to Israel have been used in ways that are “inconsistent” with international human rights law, but that there is not enough concrete evidence to link specific US-supplied weapons to violations or warrant cutting the supply of arms. Some Palestinians in the US say they have been “heartened” by the “phenomenal” support they have seen from student demonstrators around the country. Risking suspension, expulsion and even arrest, US students have spent the last few weeks protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza and calling for their schools to financially divest from weapons manufacturing companies who supply the Israeli military. US offers Israel intelligence and supplies to avoid full-scale Rafah invasion – report The Biden administration is offering Israel “valuable assistance” in an attempt to stave off a full-scale invasion of Rafah, according to a Washington Post report. The US offer includes sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military locate Hamas leaders and the group’s hidden tunnels, the report says, in exchange for Israel holding back on its planned military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city. People are gathering in Tel Aviv to protest against the Israeli government and call for early elections as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Police have barricaded off parts of Begin Street and Kaplan Street to contain the demonstration, and have blocked nearby exits to the Ayalon Freeway to prevent protesters from blocking traffic, the Times of Israel is reporting. Smoke rose over Rafah as the Israeli military told people living in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last week in what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods. More than 150,000 people have already fled the southern city in Gaza. The new instructions to residents, via leaflets and messages on social media, suggest a coming offensive will take the IDF into the centre of Rafah and on to a likely advance through the entire city. People in Rafah "exhausted, degraded, humiliated" after days of "relentless" bombardment, says Unrwa official Palestinians in Rafah fear the intensification of an already desperate situation in Gaza’s southernmost city, an official from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said. Unrwa’s Sam Rose, speaking to CNN, said the population of Rafah is “exhausted, degraded, humiliated” after days of “relentless” bombardment and amid warnings of an imminent Israeli military operation. A series of warning sirens have sounded in multiple towns in northern Israel in the last hour, Israel media is reporting. Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing, citing Israel’s “unacceptable escalation”, Egyptian media is reporting. A senior official added that Egypt held Israel responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted. Israeli military forces on Tuesday seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. The UN and international aid agencies warned that the closing of Rafah and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing had essentially cut off the Palestinian territory from outside aid. There had been no panic, humanitarian officials in Rafah said, just huge numbers of people packing whatever they had in preparation for yet another move. Many have been displaced many times as they have fled successive Israeli military offensives across Gaza. A million people who sought shelter in Rafah, after fleeing fighting or after their homes had been destroyed, turned the small city of 300,000 into a sprawling, overcrowded encampment. One aid official said: There are a lot of people on the move today and continued bombardments … It’s all orderly, with people tidying up after themselves. Marwan al-Hams, the head of the health emergency committee of Rafah, said on Friday morning that nine people had been killed and 10 injured in the preceding 24 hours. Also on the road was Adeeb al-Saka, 37, a lecturer at Gaza University, with her four children. Her destination was al-Qarara, just north of Khan Younis, an area that is within the recently expanded “humanitarian zone” designated by the IDF. Saka said: Our neighbourhood is under heavy bombardment. I’m going to al-Qarara because there is no space anywhere else. I have heard there is no water, no electricity and no internet where we are going, but there we have no other options. Number of Palestinians fleeing Rafah rises above 150,000 amid Israeli strikes Under a blazing summer sun, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Israeli bombardment and clashes with Hamas militants in Rafah on Friday, choking roads with donkey carts, bicycles, pickup trucks and wheelchairs. More than 150,000 people have now left Gaza’s southernmost city since receiving warnings on Monday from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of an imminent military operation, with most having moved after airstrikes and fighting intensified later in the week. Among those fleeing on Friday was Iyad Jarboa, an acting instructor and theatre director who left his home in eastern Rafah on Thursday with his family to seek safety in the city of Khan Younis, six miles away. Jarboa, 45, said: We have been suffering since the beginning of the war, but these last nights were the most difficult of all, with bombing of all kinds everywhere and none of us able to sleep. I was worried that my children and my wife would be killed, but also that if we left it too late, we would never escape. Jarboa’s brother, sister-in-law and aunt have all sustained serious injuries during the conflict. He said: We only have two wheelchairs, so I have to carry one of them on my back and so it would be impossible to move at all if the situation worsened. The families of hostages held in Gaza have said they will hold an emergency news conference from Tel Aviv this evening. Several families are expected to make statements to the media, following the announcement by Hamas that British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell has died. A series of demonstrations are expected to take place in Israel’s major cities today to demand the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and early elections. Hostage families urge ceasefire deal amid nationwide protests In a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters, the family of British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell, 51, confirmed dead by Hamas, requested that the clip of him not be published or used. The forum stated: Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders. We don’t have a moment to spare! You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today – the living to rehabilitation and the murdered to burial. On 27 April, a video was released by the group showcasing the ongoing survival of hostages Keith Siegel and Omri Miran Three days prior, a separate video was broadcast featuring the hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The unprecedented abduction of approximately 250 people into the Gaza Strip occurred on 7 October during an assault by Hamas militants on southern Israel. According to Israeli authorities, 128 people are reported to remain in captivity within the Palestinian territory, with 36 confirmed dead. The video was released on the day a series of demonstrations are expected to take place across the country, with families of hostages protesting for the government to reach an agreement for the release of their loved ones. More on the reports of the British-Israeli hostage’s death Reuters reports: The Israeli military did not offer immediate comment on the latest video. It has referred to previous videos of hostages released by Hamas as psychological terror. It has also denied some of the previous accusations by Hamas that hostages were killed by Israeli fire. Earlier on Saturday Hamas released an undated video of the 51-year-old captive in front of a white wall, with a bruise on his right eye, and speaking his name. Hours later, in the second video, it said Popplewell died of wounds sustained a month ago in an Israeli air strike. Hamas said Popplewell, whom it said was also a British citizen, was being detained with a woman hostage when the place they were being held was targeted by an Israeli missile. “He died because he didn’t receive intensive medical care at medical facilities because of the enemy’s destruction of hospitals in Gaza,” the Hamas armed wing spokesman, Abu Ubaida, said in a statement. Hamas claims Israeli hostage died of wounds sustained in airstrike Hamas armed wing said in a statement on Saturday that the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike more than a month ago, Reuters is reporting. Popplewell, 51, was a captive taken from Kibbutz Nirim and a video previously showed him displaying visible signs of physical abuse. Popplewell and his mother, Channah Peri, 79, were abducted on October 7th, from their residence in Kibbutz Nirim. Peri was freed on 24 November. Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israel’s prime minister, told the AP that Israel acts in compliance with the laws of armed conflict and the army takes extensive measures to avert civilian casualties, including alerting people to military operations via phone calls and text messages. More than 1.4 million Palestinians — half of Gaza’s population — have been sheltering in Rafah, most after fleeing Israel’s offensives elsewhere. The evacuations are forcing people to return north where areas are devastated from previous Israeli attacks. Aid agencies estimate that 110,000 had done so before Saturday’s order, which adds a further 40,000. “What should we do here? Do we wait until we all die on top of each other? So we’ve decided to leave. It’s better,” said Rafah resident Hanan al-Satari as people rushed to load mattresses, water tanks and other belongings onto vehicles. “The Israeli army does not have a safe area in Gaza. They target everything,” said Abu Yusuf al-Deiri, earlier displaced from Gaza City. Many people have been displaced multiple times, and there are few places left to go. Some fleeing fighting earlier in the week erected new tent camps in the city of Khan Younis — half destroyed in an earlier Israeli offensive — and the city of Deir al-Balah, straining infrastructure. In the west of Rafah, where about a million people are sheltering after being displaced from elsewhere in Gaza during the seven-month war, many are already planning to leave. “We are now in a state of extreme tension and anxiety,” said Dina Zayed, 54, who has been living in Rafah for six months since being forced to flee the north of Gaza shortly after the outbreak of the war. “We don’t know what will happen to us. We are going towards the unknown. Everyone feels the same. Our coming days will be difficult.” Muhammad Qahman, 54, said he was concerned about conditions at al-Mawasi, a strip of sandy coast and dunes that is packed with hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have overwhelmed the entirely inadequate supplies of food, clean water and healthcare. Sanitation systems barely exist, leading to the rapid spread of disease. “We don’t know what we will do. We are now preparing our things to go to the area designated by the Israeli army, which is supposed to be safe and a humanitarian area, but this is just a lie,” Qahman, who has been living in Rafah since January, said. As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, some Palestinians in the US say they have been “heartened” by the “phenomenal” support they have seen from student demonstrators around the country. Risking suspension, expulsion and even arrest, US students have spent the last few weeks protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza and calling for their schools to financially divest from weapons manufacturing companies who supply the Israeli military. The students’ show of occupying their campuses with tents and sleeping bags has struck a chord with many, with reports noting they had caused divisions among Democrats and unity among Republicans. A recent USA Today poll noted that two-thirds of voters (67%) have expressed concern that the demonstrations and subsequent police response could lead to more violence. Some Palestinian Americans talked to the Guardian about how the movement has made them feel. “It has been absolutely awe-inspiring to see the level of awakening that has happened around Palestine, and realizing how collective our liberation is,” said Colette Ghunim, a Chicago-based film-maker of Palestinian-Mexican heritage. The 32-year-old added that she “did not expect all races and religions to come together to be able to rally around this. It’s really phenomenal.” The day so far The Israeli military has told residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” last week after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods. More than 150,000 people have already fled the city. Many have fled to an “expanded humanitarian zone”, designated by the IDF on the coast and to the northwest where conditions are “horrific”, according to aid workers there. The new instructions to residents suggest a coming offensive will take the IDF into the centre of Rafah, threatening destruction and displacement of many more, and a likely advance through the entire city. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying that Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there. At least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 others wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Saturday. Israeli tanks have reached the Salahuddin Road which crosses Rafah, dividing its centre from the eastern neighbourhoods evacuated before Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last week, witnesses in Rafah told the Guardian. In the west of the city, which has yet to be directly affected by the recent fighting. many are already planning on fleeing. The United Arab Emirates has hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister said the Gulf state could be involved in aiding a future government in Gaza after the war. The UAE foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, rebuked Netanyahu in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning, saying Abu Dhabi denounced the Israeli leader’s comments. Australia’s support of a UN vote on Palestinian membership is “the opposite of what Hamas wants”, and was not about recognising Palestine as a state, according to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong. The draft resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations and Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine. The US said yesterday that it is “reasonable to assess” that the weapons it has provided to Israel have been used in ways that are “inconsistent” with international human rights law, but that there is not enough concrete evidence to link specific US-supplied weapons to violations or warrant cutting the supply of arms. In a highly anticipated report to Congress, the state department said that the assurances given by Israel and a handful of other countries under scrutiny that they had been using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL) were “credible and reliable”. Hamas has released a new hostage video on Saturday, featuring Nadav Popplewell – a captive taken from Kibbutz Nirim – showing visible signs of physical abuse. In the clip, the man identifies himself by name. Popplewell, 51, and his mother, Channah Peri, 79, were abducted on 7 October from their residence in Kibbutz Nirim. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s UN delegate, accused the body of attempting to allow a “terror state” into its membership led by the “Hitlers of our time” during debate on the resolution. Erdan also shredded a copy of the UN charter, accusing members of doing so while debating the resolution. Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine, told the UN: “I stand before you as lives continue falling apart in the Gaza Strip … as more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80,000 have been maimed, 2 million have been displaced and everything has been destroyed.” He added: “No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians.” Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and north-east of Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the city’s east, a sign that Israeli forces had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area. Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million uprooted from other parts of the territory in the war. Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close down and leading to more malnutrition, UN aid agencies warned on Friday. Humanitarian workers have sounded the alarm over the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people as part of Israel’s military operation in Rafah, where a UN official said about 110,000 people have fled. The UN security council called for an immediate and independent investigation into mass graves allegedly containing hundreds of bodies near hospitals in Gaza. In a statement, members of the council expressed their “deep concern over reports of the discovery of mass graves, in and around the Nasser and Al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, where several hundred bodies, including women, children and older persons, were buried”. Three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman desert camp, a holding site for Palestinians detained during Israel’s invasion of Gaza, have claimed to have witnessed a series of abuses by the military, including prisoners being restrained, blindfolded and forced to wear diapers, reports CNN. The Israeli whistleblowers said of the prisoners: “We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.” According to the sources, guards were instructed to enforce silence by shouting “uskot” (Arabic for “shut up”) and to identify and punish problematic individuals. Hamas releases new hostage video Hamas has released a new hostage video on Saturday, featuring Nadav Popplewell – a captive taken from Kibbutz Nirim – showing visible signs of physical abuse. In the clip, the man identifies himself by name. Popplewell, 51, and his mother, Channah Peri, 79, were abducted on 7 October from their residence in Kibbutz Nirim. Peri was freed on 24 November. During her time as a captive, Channah and Nadav were kept together in an underground tunnel in Gaza. Hamas says it will publish further information or footage on the hostage soon. Hamas has previously released videos featuring hostages under its captivity, a tactic condemned by Israel as reprehensible psychological manipulation. Analysis: evacuation order exposes Israeli weak spots Two elements are particularly striking about the latest evacuation warnings issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to residents and displaced people in central Rafah and a considerable part of northern Gaza. The first is that the warnings for Rafah were put at the bottom of leaflets and social media posts, almost as if the IDF was trying to downplay the coming offensive. This may be because Israeli military officials have told the media for much of the week that they were carrying out “precise, limited and targeted” operations in the city with the sole objective of seizing the key border crossing with Egypt. This is now clearly not the case, if it ever was. Such reluctance to highlight the opening of a new and potentially extremely bloody phase in the war in Gaza is unsurprising. For months, Israel’s most senior officials have threatened a full-scale assault into Rafah to eliminate Hamas forces and leaders based in or under the city, and to retrieve some of the Israeli hostages possibly held there. This is seen as essential to accomplishing Israel’s war aims of “crushing” Hamas and ending any threat from the organisation. Humanitarian officials have warned of a catastrophe if such an attack goes ahead, and Washington made clear it was opposed to any such action without Israel offering a credible plan to safeguard civilians. This, US officials say, they have yet to see. The diplomatic fallout of the new Israeli push is therefore likely to be significant and long lasting. The second takeaway from the warnings is that they call for the evacuation of areas in northern Gaza that have already been the site of repeated Israeli military operations. This is not the first time the IDF has been forced to return to parts of the territory where they have defeated Hamas forces. 34,971 Palestinians killed in Gaza since 7 October, ministry says At least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 others wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Saturday. The US said yesterday that it is “reasonable to assess” that the weapons it has provided to Israel have been used in ways that are “inconsistent” with international human rights law, but that there is not enough concrete evidence to link specific US-supplied weapons to violations or warrant cutting the supply of arms. In a highly anticipated report to Congress, the state department said that the assurances given by Israel and a handful of other countries under scrutiny that they had been using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL) were “credible and reliable”. In Israel’s case, the report expresses deep misgivings about Israeli compliance but says the US does not have sufficient evidence about individual cases to recommend that US arms supplies be suspended. Democratic critics of Israel, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, accused the administration of “ducking” the tough decisions that would be involved in making a formal determination of Israeli non-compliance. The report is mandated by a national security memorandum (NSM-20) signed by Joe Biden in February to assess whether recipients of US arms are complying with human rights law. The state department report found that: Given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defence articles, it is reasonable to assess that defence articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since 7 October in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.