Israeli military orders Palestinians to evacuate Rafah area

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday ordered the evacuation of most areas in Rafah, a city on the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt. The order indicated that Israel planned to return to fight and destroy terrorists’ capabilities in the city.

The Israeli military asked Palestinian civilians in Gaza to evacuate to Al Mawasi, an area of tent camps and shelters along the coast. Large parts of Rafah are already in ruins after Israel’s extensive military operations there last May.

The latest evacuation order came after the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday said that eight Red Crescent aid volunteers were killed while conducting their relief work in Gaza. The workers came under heavy fire while responding to casualties in the Rafah area, according to the Red Cross.

The Israeli military said Hamas terrorists used the ambulances as cover, Reuters reported.

Have Israel and Hamas made any progress on a ceasefire? Hamas on Saturday said it had accepted a ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar, but Israel made a counter-proposal in coordination with the United States. Egypt’s ceasefire agreement called for Hamas to release five hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a pause in fighting for several weeks, the Associated Press reported. It wasn’t immediately clear if Hamas modified the plan before accepting it. Israel did not give details of its counter-proposal.

Why did fighting in Gaza resume? Israel resumed air and ground warfare in Gaza on March 18 after negotiations with Hamas broke down. The renewed fighting came after two months of relative calm during a U.S.-backed ceasefire Israel signed with the terrorist organization.

Israel will continue to fight until all hostages Hamas holds are released and Hamas no longer controls the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. The terrorist organization still holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, the Associated Press reported.

Dig deeper: Read my report on recent anti-Hamas protests by Palestinians in Gaza.