Israel pounds Gaza, killing two doctors, after fresh Rafah evacuation order – even as UN chief demands ceasefire

Israel launched deadly attacks on war-torn Gaza on Sunday, killing two doctors, after extending an evacuation order for Rafah.

Gaza’s Civil Protection Organization said the two medics were killed in the central city of Deir al-Balah after heavy gunfire from Israeli helicopters was reported near the city.

The strikes come as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire, the return of hostages and a “wave” of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.

“I repeat my call, the world’s call, for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate increase in humanitarian aid,” Guterres said in a video address to an international donor conference in Kuwait.

“But a ceasefire will only be the beginning. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war,” he added.

Israeli attacks on Gaza continued on Sunday after the country extended an evacuation order for Rafah, despite international outrage over his military incursion into eastern parts of the city, effectively shutting down a key aid station.

It comes after Guterres said on Friday that Gaza risks an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel were to launch a large-scale ground operation in Rafah.

“The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, destroying lives, tearing apart families and leaving large numbers of people homeless, hungry and traumatized,” Guterres said.

Witnesses said Israel carried out attacks on Saturday in Rafah, near the border crossing with Egypt, and images showed smoke rising over the city.

Israeli forces this week defied international opposition and entered eastern parts of the city, effectively closing a key aid station and halting traffic through another.

Israel extended an evacuation order for eastern Rafah after saying 300,000 people had fled the city since the army urged people to leave earlier this week.

Residents piled water tanks, mattresses and other belongings onto vehicles and prepared to flee again.

“We don’t know where to go,” said Farid Abu Eida, who was preparing to leave Rafah after already being driven there from Gaza City.

“There is no place left in Gaza that is safe or not overcrowded… We have nowhere to go.”

Residents were told to go to the ‘humanitarian zone’ of Al-Mawasi, on the coast northwest of Rafah.

But EU chief Charles Michel said on social media that Rafah civilians were being sent to “unsafe zones”, calling this “unacceptable”.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also described the practice of forcing civilians into unsafe areas in Rafah as “intolerable”.

Borrell turned to X, formerly Twitter, to address the situation in southern Gaza, where Israel launched a ground attack.

“Forcing citizens to evacuate Rafah to unsafe zones is unbearable. Israel is bound by international law to provide security to its citizens,” Borrell wrote.

“We continue to urge Israel not to proceed with a ground operation in Rafah. This would further exacerbate an already serious humanitarian crisis.”

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had begun transferring 22 patients from a field hospital in Rafah. Israeli operations in the city made it “impossible to provide life-saving medical assistance,” according to the organization.

Hamas accused Israel of “expanding the incursion into Rafah to include new areas in the center and west of the city.”

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said “we have eliminated dozens of terrorists in eastern Rafah” and the army said troops fought “armed terrorists” at the border crossing and had found “numerous underground tunnel shafts.”

Sunday’s attack comes as mediation efforts toward a ceasefire and the release of hostages appear to have stalled.

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that a ceasefire would be reached “tomorrow” if Hamas releases the hostages.

“Israel said it’s up to Hamas: if they want to do it, we can end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would start tomorrow,” Biden told a crowd of about 100 people at a fundraising event in Seattle.

The US president raised the issue after warning Israel on Wednesday that he would stop supplying artillery shells and other weapons if his forces attacked the southern Gaza city of Rafah, amid concerns about civilian casualties caused through the use of American bombs.

“If they invade Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that were used… to deal with the cities,” Biden told CNN.

“We are not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”

The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

During their attack, militants also seized hostages. Israel estimates that 128 of them are still in Gaza, including 36 who the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.