The Israeli army on Monday began evacuating the city of Rafah in southern Gaza as it gears up for an expected military operation there as the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is reportedly making a "last-ditch" effort for a hostage deal.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, "We begin a limited scope operation to temporarily evacuate inhabitants of eastern Rafah."
The IDF called on the inhabitants of the eastern part of the city on the border with Egypt to move to the al-Mawasi camp on the Mediterranean a few kilometres to the north.
An estimated 100,000 people are affected, according to an IDF spokesman. They were informed by text message, telephone, leaflets and via Arabic-language media.
On Sunday, a further round of indirect negotiations on a ceasefire between delegates of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group and mediators from Egypt and Qatar in Cairo failed to produce any tangible results.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States are acting as mediators in the efforts to end the Gaza war.
The Times of Israel has reported that CIA chief William Burns plans to make a "last-ditch" effort for a hostage deal when he speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Burns, who is part of the US mediators' delegation, "is working to find a way to keep hope alive for a deal even as Israel begins to evacuate civilians from parts of Rafah in advance of a likely military operation," the report said.
Meanwhile, in the embattled coastal trip, the IDF spokesman said food, water and medicine are available in the "expanded humanitarian area" of al-Mawasi.
The army said it is facilitating the establishment of additional field hospitals there. But the spokesman could not say how much time people have to evacuate.
He emphasized that the supply of humanitarian aid to the population would continue unhindered during the evacuation operation. These could be brought to the coastal strip via various routes, for example via the port in Ashdod.
The Rafah border crossing remains open for aid and passenger movement despite the evacuation, an Egyptian source and the border authority in Gaza said on Monday.
An Egyptian security source denied reports that Egypt closed the border crossing, adding that humanitarian aid trucks have crossed to get into Gaza.
An Egyptian Red Crescent official said 40 trucks carrying medical and humanitarian aid have crossed the border so far on Monday, as 250 other trucks are being prepared.
Israel wants to use the military operation in Rafah to smash Hamas' remaining battalions, which it has been fighting in the coastal strip since Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. The more than 100 remaining hostages are believed to be held in Rafah.
Israel has been threatening to launch a ground offensive into Rafah for months.
Israel's allies have been urgently warning against a Rafah offensive because hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians have moved there.
Overnight, Israel's Defence Miniseter Yoav Gallant spoke with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, Gallant's office said.
Gallant briefed Austin on the Sunday Hamas attack, in which approximately 10 projectiles were fired from the area adjacent to the Rafah crossing toward the area of the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing. Four Israeli soldiers were killed in that attack.
Kerem Shalom is the most important border crossing for the delivery of aid from Israel to the Gaza Strip. The army temporarily closed it to humanitarian shipments after the rocket attack. The military then reportedly bombed the site in the Gaza Strip near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where the attack had originated.
Gallant's office said the minister discussed the hostage release efforts and said at this stage Hamas refuses the frameworks at hand, adding that military action is required, since there is a "lack of an alternative."
The state of Israel cannot tolerate a situation in which Hamas continues to attack its citizens while showing a "lack of seriousness" on releasing the hostages.
Hamas has prepared its fighters in Rafah for deployment against Israel and supplied them with provisions and weapons, according to reports from Israel.
The number of militants guarding the hostages has also increased, according to media reports.
