Israel Authority orders Gazans in sections of eastern Rafah to evacuate.

Israel’s order to relocate Gazans

Israel’s order to relocate Gazans from Rafah in southern Gaza to the seaside town of Al-Mawasi is “beyond alarming,” the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) chairman warned on Monday.

Jan Egeland detailed dismal conditions in Al-Mawasi, which included a lack of reliable security, appropriate lodging, and room for Palestinians forced to flee Rafah, where Israeli forces had long threatened a massive ground invasion.

“The area is already overburdened and bereft of essential services. It is unable to accommodate the amount of people currently seeking asylum in Rafah, with no guarantees of safety, suitable accommodation, or return once hostilities finish for those forced to relocate,” Egeland said in a statement.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians in eastern Rafah to “evacuate immediately” as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned troops in Gaza to expect “intense action” in the southern city “in the near future.”.

‘awful suffering’: According to the NRC secretary-general, an Israeli offensive on Rafah “will cause potential mass atrocities,” and might “lead to the deadliest phase of this conflict, inflicting horrific suffering on approximately 1.4 million displaced civilians in the area.” Egeland encouraged Hamas and Israel to achieve a cease-fire and free prisoners, saying, “History’s verdict will be harsh on the men who continued a war that kills countless women and children.”

US President Joe Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, according to sources familiar with the call.

According to one source, Biden will make the call this morning before leaving Wilmington, Delaware to return to the White House.

President Biden will meet with Netanyahu as his government monitors the situation in Rafah, where the Israeli military has ordered evacuations in eastern portions of the city.

The White House has made it plain that it is exceedingly suspicious of any foray into Rafah because to concerns about the potential humanitarian consequences.

The chat also comes as hostage and truce talks have basically frozen for the time being, with CIA Director Bill Burns remaining in Doha, Qatar, to try to continue negotiations.

Political elites in Europe, particularly those representing France and the European Union, have renewed their opposition to Israel’s proposed ground attack on Rafah.

“France reiterates its firm objection to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, where more than 1.3 million people are taking refuge in a situation of extreme distress,” the French foreign ministry stated on Monday. The ministry also issued repeated demands for a cease-fire and the release of captives.

On Monday, hundreds of protestors held Palestinian flags and waved “Free Palestine” banners near Tokyo’s iconic Shibuya Crossing, one of the world’s busiest crossings.

Organizers set up a platform where DJs played dance music and the people screamed “Free Free Palestine” in English.

Hanin Siam, one of the activists present who was born in Gaza and raised in the Palestinian territory, shared videos on Instagram of a large throng dancing at the crossroads.

On Monday, at least three protests were held in Tokyo: a No War March, a Shibuya protest, and a rally at the International Christian University, where people painted a crimson tear on a white banner for each Palestinian murdered in Gaza.

On Monday, scholars from two major colleges in the United Kingdom set up pro-Palestinian encampments on their campuses.

Photos on social media showed many tents with Palestinian flags constructed outside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and King’s College at the University of Cambridge, as students urged their officials to cut ties with Israel.

Oxford Action for Palestine, a campaign group, placed up the tents outside the museum at 11 p.m. ET (4 a.m. local time) on Monday, claiming they symbolize the “relationship that Oxford has to colonial projects.”

Negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza have once again stalled as Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement on a framework over the weekend.

The key sticking point is Hamas’ demand that Israel commits to ending the war as part of an agreement, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused, two Israeli sources said.

But talks have not broken down altogether. The efforts to reach a deal will still continue this week and some Israeli officials hope that the evacuation orders in eastern Rafah, that can set the stage for an Israeli ground offensive, will pressure Hamas to change its position.

CIA Director William Burns is continuing negotiations in Doha on Monday, a day after stopping in Cairo for the talks. A senior Biden administration official says that Israel’s warnings about Rafah are “directly related” to the lack of progress in the ceasefire talks.

Children in Rafah are “especially vulnerable,” and more than 600,000 might face “further catastrophe,” the United Nations children’s charity UNICEF warned in a press statement on Monday, following Israel’s evacuation orders for people in eastern Rafah to relocate to the west of the Gaza Strip.