Middle East latest: Israel prepares to move deeper into Gaza and orders Rafah evacuated

Displaced Palestinians, who flee from Rafah, arrive in Khan Younis,... — Displaced Palestinians, who flee from Rafah, arrive in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, March 31, 2025, after the Israeli military issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of Rafah. Credit: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana

By The Associated PressUpdated March 31, 2025

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

Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war earlier this month. At the beginning of March it cut off all supplies of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the truce agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated a new domestic security chief, after he moved to fire the current one over a crisis of confidence that critics say was politically motivated.

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