It is the biggest such order since Israel resumed its offensive in the Palestinian territory earlier this month.

Israel's military on Monday issued sweeping evacuation orders covering Rafah and nearby areas, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation in the Gaza Strip's southernmost city. Israel ended its ceasefire with the Hamas militant group and renewed its air and ground war earlier this month.

The Israeli military has indicated it could soon launch another major offensive in Rafah and ordered most of the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip evacuated.

The bodies of more than a dozen aid workers have been recovered in southern Gaza from what a United Nations agency described as a “mass grave,” a week after they went missing following attacks by Israeli forces.

The order, which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, included Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.

Prior to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza beginning October 2023, Rafah had a pre-war population exceeding 300,000. During the initial months of the war, the city's population swelled as over one million displaced Palestinians who sought refuge there, only to be forcibly displaced again when Israel launched its ground offensive in May 2024.

No injuries or damage reported in rocket attack; warning comes a day after military ordered all Palestinians to leave Rafah as fighting intensifies