Israel strikes eastern Rafah after issuing evacuation order

Israel's military carried out air strikes in Rafah on May 6, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

- 

Fears are growing of a fullblown assault in Rafah, long threatened by Israel, against holdouts of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as ceasefire talks in Cairo stall.

Hamas official Izzat al-Rashiq said in a statement that any Israeli operation in Rafah would put the truce talks in jeopardy.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which Hamasaffiliated Al-Aqsa TV said had targeted areas in eastern Rafah near neighbourhoods given evacuation orders.

Instructed by Arabic text messages, telephone calls and fliers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian zone" 20km away, some Palestinian families began trundling away under chilly spring rain.

Some piled children and possessions onto donkey carts, while others left by pickup or on foot through muddy streets.

"It has been raining heavily, and we don't know where to go. I have been worried that this day may come, (and) I have to see where I can take my family now," Mr Abu Raed, a refugee in Rafah, said.

A senior Hamas official said the evacuation order was a "dangerous escalation" that would have consequences.

"The US administration, alongside the occupation, bears responsibility for this terrorism," the official, Mr Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters, referring to Israel's alliance with Washington.