Gaza: 80,000 people flee Rafah after Israel steps up operations, UN agency says

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to launch a ground offensive on Rafah, 80,000 people have already fled the city since Israel stepped up its attacks on Monday, the UN refugee agency (Unrwa) said on Thursday.

“As Israeli forces intensified their operations on May 6, some 80,000 people have fled Rafah to seek refuge elsewhere. The price these families pay is unbearable,” UNRWA says on X, clarifying that “there is no safe place” in the Gaza Strip. 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them forced from their homes by the war, have flocked to the city under Israeli attack.

“Act with strength”

This Monday, the IDF confirmed that it had launched a “limited-scale operation to temporarily evacuate people living in eastern Rafah.” Israeli forces then estimated the number of casualties at “about 100,000.”

The army dropped leaflets aimed at the eastern parts of the city, saying it was preparing to “move forcefully against terrorist organizations” and that anyone who remained “in the area is putting their lives and the lives of their families in danger.” Civilians were called to join the “al-Mawasi humanitarian sector”, located about ten kilometers from Rafah.