Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah

The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.

The looming operation in the city where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering and a high number of deaths is feared has raised global alarm and Israeli's closest allies have warned against it. On Monday, the United Nations agency serving Palestinian refugees said it would not comply with the evacuation order.

Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after some seven months of war, and has repeatedly said the invasion is necessary to defeat the Islamic militant group, which unleashed the current conflict with an attack on Israel on October 7.

But Hamas and key mediator Qatar have warned that invading Rafah along the border with Egypt - could derail efforts by international mediators to broker a cease-fire.