Evening recap
Hello MEE readers.
Israeli forces ordered fresh evacuations from areas in Rafah on Saturday as it prepared to expand its operation in the city.
The Israeli army said on Saturday about 300,000 people had left eastern Rafah after Israel ordered people to leave that area of the southern Gaza city this week.
Israeli forces issued the order and captured the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as it prepared for a ground invasion of the city.
On Friday, the UN said more than 100,000 Palestinians had evacuated Rafah this week.
On Saturday the European Union also condemned Israel's forced evacuation orders in Rafah "unacceptable".
“Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to unsafe zones are unacceptable,” President of the European Council Charles Michel posted on X.
The Palestinian health ministry is reporting that at least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 others wounded since Israel's war on Gaza began in October.
There are also an estimated 10,000 Palestinians buried under the rubble of buildings flattened by Israeli bombing, according to the Palestinian civil defence.
In other updates:
- Bodies of at least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital and another 80 bodies of Palestinians recovered from Al-Shifa mass graves
- Hamas releases footage of Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell
- UK charity Oxfam has called on the UK to end its arms sales to Israel in order to halt the "senseless deaths" in Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza
- France says expanded Israeli Rafah attack could have 'catastrophic' consequences
- Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing, citing Israel’s “unacceptable escalation”, Egypt's Alqahera News satellite TV reported on Saturday, citing a senior official
- Palestinian population of Gaza is 'exhausted, degraded, humiliated': Unrwa
- Israel's forced evacuation orders in Rafah ‘unacceptable’: EU