Gaza officials say Israeli army strikes two Rafah areas it ordered evacuated

Gaza civil defence and aid officials said Monday that Israeli jets struck two areas in eastern Rafah, which the Israeli military had ordered to be evacuated, ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian city.

"The areas targeted by the Israeli occupation are near the perimeter of Gaza International Airport, the Al-Shuka area, the Abu Halawa area, the Salaheddin street area and the Salam neighbourhood," Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Ahmed Ridwan told AFP. Another aid official confirmed the strikes.

The Israeli military did not offer an immediate comment, but earlier on Sunday it ordered residents of Al-Shuka and Al-Salam to evacuate and move to a humanitarian area.

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Osama al-Kahlut from the emergency operations department of the Red Crescent Society told AFP that the bombing was targeting eastern areas of Rafah.

"It is clear that it is targeting homes, but we have not received any communications or information about the presence of victims in the targeted areas," he said.

Eastern Rafah resident Yaqub al-Sheikh Salama, 30, said the bombing was intense in Al-Salam, Al-Shuka, and other areas.

"There are massive explosions and terrifying sounds of aerial and artillery bombardments," Salam told AFP.