Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a plan be drawn up to evacuate more than 1.3 million displaced people occupying the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the same day Israel carried out airstrikes in the city despite pushback from Western allies.
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza SAtrip, Friday, Feb. ... [+]
In a statement Friday, Netanyahu said the “intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat,” and that it was not possible to successfully eliminate Hamas while leaving “four Hamas battalions in Rafah.”
Netanyahu directed Israel Defense Forces to create a plan for "both the evacuation of the population and the disbanding of the battalions."
Two residential buildings and a former school-turned-shelter were hit by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah Friday, the Associated Press reported, which is the only major city in Gaza not currently occupied by Israeli forces, according to CNN.
This is a developing story.