The Israeli army said Monday it was evacuating about 100,000 people from eastern Rafah, ahead of an expected ground assault in the southern Gaza city.

“The estimate is around 100,000 people,” a military spokesman told journalists when asked how many people were being evacuated.

About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization, most having fled there from elsewhere in Gaza during the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.

The evacuation “is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas ... we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational abilities in Rafah yesterday,” the military spokesman said.

“This is an evacuation plan to get people out of harm’s way.”

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