IDF: Around 300,000 Gazans have left Rafah to ‘humanitarian zone’

Israel has expanded the evacuation orders in the eastern parts of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. So far, around 300,000 Palestinians have left Rafah, according to Israel. Rafah is the town at the southern-tip of Gaza where more than 1 million Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas War had taken shelter. It is the only Gazan town that has not seen major fighting so far. The expansion of the evacuation orders comes at a time when the rift between Israel and its principal partner the United States is the widest. While US President Joe Biden has halted shipments of heavy bombs and has said he would further stop weapons supplies if Israel invades Rafah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly hinted that plans to invade Rafah will move forward anyway. Separately, Israel also ordered fresh round of evacuation in northern Gaza where fighting has been halted for several weeks. For both Rafah and northern Gaza, Israel issued maps in Arabic to show from where it wants people to evacuate.